Denial
by collegestressreliever
Summary: Casey didn't think that Queens would be so lonely and Derek didn't think college would be any harder than high school. Who will need who first? *slowburn*
1. Chapter 1

In the face of despair, people have been known to react in different ways. Some rage, some rant, some wallow. Casey McDonald prides herself on continuing as if nothing has happened. Oh sure, she's raged, ranted, and wallowed…but not about anything important. No, when Casey McDonald is truly hurt, she takes the first bus to Denial Town and never looks back. Therefore, when Derek leans over as they're unpacking the Prince at Queens and tells her that he doesn't want anything to do with her, let alone have anyone know they share a family, she slams the door closed, wishes her mom and George a safe trip back to London, and walks briskly to her dorm.

Casey doesn't cry when she finds out that she will be the only one on her floor with no roommate.

Casey doesn't cry when she thinks about home and how much she already misses her siblings.

And Casey definitely does not cry when she – for only a brief moment – thinks about the fact that she thought she and Derek could finally maybe be…friends.

No, Casey does what Casey does best. She color coordinates her schedule, lays out her gym clothes for the run she plans on taking in the morning, shoots her dance coach an email letting her know how _excited _she is for the first practice on Thursday, and cracks open her textbook for some light reading before drifting off into an uneasy sleep.

After two weeks at Queens Casey makes a friend. Leah is a girl on her floor who Casey met through dance class. Although Casey longs for a roommate, Leah abhors hers and basically spends every waking minute at Casey's, even though Casey has pointed out multiple times that Leah's room is bigger, and it would make much more sense to take it back from the evil roommate. Casey really doesn't mind though; it takes her mind off the loneliness and Leah always convinces her to loosen up, even if only a little bit. Which is why, after Friday's dance practice, Casey reluctantly lets Leah convince her to go out with the rest of the girls for a drink.

"Casey!" Amy squeals into her ear, "you _have _to look at the guy to the right of us! He's so dreamy!" Amy is another girl on the dance team. She's nice enough; blonde, attractive, a bit of an airhead but flexible as hell. She's also persistent, so in order to get her off her back, Casey turns to look. Derek. Their eyes meet briefly as Casey freezes up, not missing the smirk on Derek's face as she quickly casts her eyes down to her drink. He saunters over to the girls and Amy squeals again; Casey's hand tightens around the rim of her glass. Derek slides between Amy and Casey and smiles wide at Amy while his elbow ever so "accidentally" knocks over Casey's drink, spilling it onto her lap. Tears spring to Casey's eyes but she ignores them, brushing off Leah's concern with a casual "I'll be right back." Casey doesn't come back. Instead, Casey goes to her dorm, changes into her gym clothes, and goes on her regular three-mile run…four times. Leah calls five times. Casey almost ignores the sixth call but decides she might as well answer as she can't run any longer.

"Hello?"

"Casey! You gave me a fucking heart attack!" Leah screams in her ear. Casey figures she deserves it. "You said, and I fucking quote, 'I'll be right back' yet all of us have left the bar and you're obviously still not back." Despite her friend's fierceness, Casey can't help but laugh at the colorful language used.

"I'm sorry Leah, I decided it wasn't really my scene and went on a run. I'll be back soon."

"You better be," Leah confirmed, "I've already spent ten minutes outside of your door looking like some kind of stalker."

As soon as Leah and Casey plop down onto Casey's bed, Leah turns her full attention onto Casey.

"Spill." She demands.

"Spill what, exactly?"

Leah scoffs at her friend's poorly feigned ignorance. "What was up with you and that guy Amy was drooling all over?"

Casey's heart stops, "I don't know what you're talking about." Leah gives her _the look,_ so Casey sighs and continues.

"We went to the same high school and our younger siblings are friends, so our lives were pretty intertwined. He was popular, I wasn't, he made my life miserable. Then towards the end of senior year we started getting along and I thought maybe we could be friends since we were going to the same university. But he made it pretty clear on our first day that he wants nothing to do with me. Happy?"

Leah senses that Casey is done with the topic, so she graciously drops it as they argue over whether to watch Gossip Girl (Leah) or Dirty Dancing (Casey). They watch both.

After the night at the bar, Casey starts seeing Derek around more regularly. He picks Amy up after practice to go to a movie, he flirts with Marie (another girl on the dance team) at a party the girls convince Casey to go to, she sees him at breakfast in the mess hall. And every time she sees him, he's wearing that same insufferable smirk on his face. In order to counteract this, Casey signs up for the speech and debate club, which just so happens to start right after dance practice, and it's only coincidence that she has to leave right after practice ends with no time for idle chit chat in order to make it on time. Leah watches on with concern. It's around this time that Dennis finds out that Casey isn't on the pre-law track and decides that he won't be helping pay for Casey's schooling after all, so Casey gets a job and has no time for any parties. Leah tries to talk Casey into dropping speech and debate, which Casey says isn't negotiable "because people are depending on her." Leah tells Casey that she's full of shit. Between dance and her job and speech and debate, Casey starts sleeping less in order to get her homework done on time and stops going to the mess hall all together. Leah forces Casey to eat lunch with her on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. It's unsurprising then, that the next time Casey and Derek accidentally cross paths on campus, Derek loses his smirk at the sight of how sickly Casey looks.


	2. Chapter 2

Derek throws his duffel bag in what will be his new room for the next year and heaves a sigh. It feels like unpacking the Prince is taking a lifetime when all he actually wants to do is grab some pizza with Casey…and his dad and Nora. With no one in close enough proximity to complain to, Derek begrudgingly starts to head back down the stairs. As he nears the parking lot, his phone starts to buzz.

"Hey mom."

"Derek, we need to talk." Derek stalls; this wasn't exactly how he imagined his mom's obligatory 'congrats you got into uni' phone call starting out.

"Yeah, um, ok. What about?"

Derek wishes that he hadn't asked. Within the short five minutes it takes for him to get back to the Prince, his mom has managed to tell him that: 1. He's lucky he even got into college 2. His immaturity better not lead to him losing his hockey scholarship because she will not front the additional money to keep him in school and 3. He better not bring Casey down if he starts falling behind. She adds to this, saying that Casey is too nice and has too bright of a future to be caught up in Derek's juvenile actions. As if Derek doesn't know that already.

By the time Derek gets back to the Prince he is positively fuming. He knows he's no good for keener Casey but…fuck it. Still red with rage, Derek leans over to Casey as he grabs his last bag and whispers venomously in her ear that he wants nothing to do with her while at uni and would rather drop dead than have someone find out they share a family.

As if someone dropped a cube of ice down her shirt, Casey stands tall, and without giving him a second glance, slams the Prince's door closed and tells his dad and Nora goodbye before walking towards her dorm. Derek feels a stab of guilt rib through his gut and swallows hard; she'll come around eventually. He knows Casey. Whatever _it_ is that they have between them can definitely withstand a few harsh words…right?

Nora watches Casey's retreating form with misty eyes and turns to Derek, "You'll look after her, right Derek?" she asks. "I know you two fight, but you've always had each other's backs," at this Nora places her hand on Derek's shoulder and his guilt intensifies, "and I know you care about her." Derek whips his head sharply up at this…this…accusation but Nora surges forward, unaware of how her well-intended words sound to Derek's ears. "I'm just so proud of you two for working through all of your differences senior year and…I'm just so proud of _you_ for getting into Queens!" Nora's waterworks start up again and Derek gently removes her arm from his shoulder, mumbling a thank you. Luckily his dad steps in to save him from one of Nora's infamous hugs, clapping him loudly on the back.

"I'm proud of you son. You did well. We'll try to make some of your home games once the season picks up ok?" Derek nods mutely. His dad looks around conspiratorially before leaning down and whispering, "can't wait to see you kick ass on that rink." Derek barks out a laugh and the guilt temporarily eases up.

The first two weeks of college are a blur. Derek gets lucky and has a fellow hockey teammate, Mark, for a roommate. They go to a few parties. Ok, they go to a lot of parties. Derek rolls into his classes just before they start and barely registers the syllabus being handed to him as the class goes over it together. He Skypes with Edwin (though he will never admit it, he misses the brat) and lets Marti talk excitingly about her day until Derek hears Nora gently take the phone away as Marti weakly protests that she's not _actually_ tired…her yawns are just fake. Mark grins at Derek when he hears Marti yell "I love you Smerek!" and Derek silently flips him the bird.

Then suddenly it's the third week of school and Derek realizes he has homework due on Thursday and Friday. And then he realizes he has none of the books he needs for his classes. And then he realizes that the color coordinated planner Casey had gleefully made for him is still sitting on his desk collecting dust. And then the guilt comes tumbling back in.

When he sees her for the first time since starting Queens, it's purely on accident. How was Derek to know it was keener night at the bar? He wouldn't have even noticed her unless the blonde she was sitting next to hadn't literally squealed. He meets Casey's eyes as they both look up and, almost like second nature in reaction to anything Casey-related, he smirks. Casey immediately looks back down at the bar, lips pursed in irritation. Derek sighs and wonders why she has to make everything so difficult. His smirk settles back on his face however, when he resolves to bait her into talking to him again. Just like high school. Because when Derek and Casey start a prank war, what could possibly go wrong?

Derek saunters over to the blonde and flashes her the classic Venturi grin. As predicted, the blonde swoons. But Derek doesn't care about that. What Derek cares about is his purposeful placement between the blonde and Casey as he "accidentally" elbows Casey's drink directly onto her lap. He doesn't even get a cry of outrage, let alone the sound of his name broken in two. Instead, he gets a cold breeze of air as Casey slides past silently and a fiery glare from a redheaded girl that was sitting beside her. The blonde, whose name he learns is Amy, is oblivious to it all. Casey doesn't come back and Derek grins, just because he lost the battle doesn't mean he'll lose the war…it just means he has to up the stakes.

Derek does everything in his power to get a rise out of Casey. He starts picking up Amy from dance class, then quickly stops when Casey starts leaving faster than he can get to the studio (and let's be honest, Amy is a bit of an airhead…even for Derek). When their paths cross at parties, Derek makes sure he has Casey's full attention before openly flirting with her other teammates. By the time he hits on the fourth (fifth?) girl Malia (Marie? Mary?) Derek stops seeing Casey at parties altogether. Derek gives up after a while and only goes to parties occasionally, seeing as he actually has to _work_ on keeping his grade point average up if he wants to retain his scholarship. So, Derek resorts to the lowest of low, he wakes up early. At seven, to be exact. It's not like he _knows_ Casey still most likely does her 5am three mile run every day and likes to eat her breakfast _exactly _at 7:30am. No, it's really just a lucky coincidence that he keeps running into her at the mess hall at 7:30am every weekday. Derek smirks at Casey's disheveled appearance and Casey openly frowns at him. They keep this up for a week before Casey stops showing up. This agitates Derek. He plans on giving her a piece of his mind the next time he sees her, but when the opportunity presents itself, the smirk slips off his face at the sight of how exhausted Casey looks.


	3. Chapter 3

Casey hates pity. She despises it. She doesn't need it. So, when Derek of all people looks at her with fucking _pity_ then walks past her like she wasn't even there, Casey loses it.

"How dare he pretend I don't exist…like he doesn't even see me?!" Casey seethes, pacing back and forth across her dorm room.

Leah snorts, "don't you specifically go out of your way to ensure that he doesn't see you?"

Casey splutters, "that's not…I just…arghhhh!"

"I think," Leah smirks uncannily like Derek, "that you want him to notice you."

Casey's face starts to get an unnatural shade of red but Leah forges on, leaning closer, "I think you want him to beg your forgiveness, I think you want him to beg to be your…" Casey's phone rings and she's never been more relieved. She grabs her phone from the desk and sees 'MOM' flashing in bright letters across the screen. Casey guiltily lets it go to voicemail like she has done for the past week, promising in her head that she'll at least text back later. She knows that if she answers she'll have to explain more in detail why she has a job (that's "keeping her from answering the phone" in the first place) and if Casey knows anything about herself, it's that she'll cave to her mom's rapid fire line of questioning.

Leah narrows her eyes, "You can't ignore her forever, Casey."

Casey looks down at her hands, "I know," she whispers, "I'm just…busy right now." She finishes the sentence lamely, not able to voice her fear of adding additional stress to her mom and George as a result of Dennis not paying for what he should.

"I love you Casey," Leah stands up, "but you need to get your priorities in order." Casey doesn't look up so, with one foot out the door, Leah harshly tells her to "grow up."

Leah immediately regrets it when she hears a sob pierce the air as the door swings shut behind her.

Ever dedicated to maintaining her residency status in Denial Town, Casey adds one more person to the ignore list: Leah. Casey knows it's not fair, the redhead definitely doesn't deserve the Ice Queen Treatment, but Casey can't handle anyone else being disappointed in her. She drops speech and debate (no, this has nothing to do with the fact that she heard Amy crying about how Derek dumped her) but replaces that now empty time slot with more shifts at her job. She starts studying (sleeping) in the library to avoid being near her dorm. She even calls out of dance practice on Friday feigning an illness. After a week of receiving the cold shoulder, Leah can't take it anymore and apologizes. Casey apologizes as well, and they spend the rest of the evening crying together over a tub of Ben & Jerry's while promising to never fight again. Leah even promises not to bring up Derek anymore, and proves it by not commenting on the hockey tickets she finds for the first home game of the season buried under a mountain of homework, nor does she say anything other than, "I'll be there," when Casey pleadingly offers her the second ticket.

Derek's phone buzzes on the nightstand, waking him from his post-practice nap. His nerves have been at an all-time high due to their first real game being in a week and he desperately hopes it's not his mom on the other line.

"Hello?" he answers groggily.

"Derek –" relief floods his veins when he realizes it's Nora calling.

"Hey Nora, what's up?"

"Derek…" Nora begins.

At the sound of Nora's serious tone, Derek beings to panic, "Did something happen to Marti? Are Edwin and Lizzie ok?"

"Derek, Derek, everyone here is fine!" Nora reassures and Derek breathes a sigh of relief. "But I haven't heard from Casey in a while. I know she's busy, she got a job…Lord knows why…" Derek didn't know she had a job "but I've called a bunch this week and she hasn't answered." Nora continues to ramble, and it almost makes him smile, Casey definitely got that from her mother.

"Nora," he politely interrupts, "I'll check in with her and have her give you a call. Klutzilla most likely broke her phone or something." Derek knows this isn't true, but the white lie is worth easing Nora's mind. Though he'll never admit it, Nora has always been nothing supportive of him and he feels he needs to repay her kindness.

"Thanks Derek," she gushes, "I knew I could count on you! I'll text you her dorm number so you can stop by."

They say their goodbyes and Derek pulls up a blank text to Casey, thinking about how rundown she looked the last time he saw her before typing:

'Why did you get a job? You already look…' delete.

'Hey spacecase, don't you know only idiots double major AND get a job?' delete.

'Are you ok?' delete.

'Call Nora.' Send.


	4. Chapter 4

Casey calls her mom. They cry together over how much they missed each other, and Casey explains her job situation and the concern she has for her mom and George about money. Her mom is furious at Dennis and reassures Casey that they'll figure everything out. Casey is relieved.

After talking to her mom, Casey starts working at her job less. Leah notices the change and is grateful to see her friend less stressed and more energized than she had been the past month. Everything starts to look up until the day of the hockey game.

"Are you sure this looks okay?" Casey stresses, picking imaginary lint off of her black leggings and making sure her two long pigtails are even.

"You look fine, Casey! I promise. I even bought you something to pull your whole outfit together!" Leah exclaims.

"What's wrong with my outfit as it is now?" Casey frowns, taking in her reflection. A loose, long-sleeved gold shirt hangs off of her tiny frame and is covered with an equally baggy red sweater. "I'm sporting school colors!"

Leah laughs, "there's nothing wrong with what you're wearing, I just thought we could…enhance it a bit."

Casey squints suspiciously at her red-headed friend, "ok, I'll bite, what is it?"

Leah smiles triumphantly and whips a Gaels jersey out of her bag, tossing it at Casey. "I got it last week, it was actually the last one left in your size."

"Leah, those are expensive," Casey chides, "why did you get it?"

"It was buy one, get one 50% off, I couldn't resist really." Leah grins as she pulls a matching jersey out of her bag. "I will admit though, yours is a bit more…customized than mine."

Casey's face drains of color as she whips the jersey around, 'VENTURI' proudly spelled out along the back. "God damn it Leah, we agreed you wouldn't bring him up."

"No," Leah states, standing up to poke Casey in the chest, "I agreed not to _talk_ about him, I said nothing about buying you a jersey with his name on it."

Casey drops the offending object to the floor and crosses her arms, "I'm not wearing it."

"Oh yes you are," Leah states as a fact, shoving the jersey back into Casey's arms. "Look, he's the only one you know on the team and, as much as you deny it, you miss him. I personally think he stepped out of line and you blew it out of proportion. You don't have to talk to him but at least wear the damn jersey."

Casey continues to stare at Leah defiantly until Leah starts to pout. "Fine!" Casey says, "I'll wear it, but you owe me."

Leah claps her hands in childlike glee and Casey rolls her eyes, unable to stop the smile from creeping onto her face. Leah's joy is contagious.

"Hurry up and put it on girl! We haven't got all day and we still need to do our makeup!"

Casey opens her mouth to protest the fact that she doesn't _need_ to wear makeup, but one look at Leah's face makes her close her mouth. Casey takes off her sweater and folds it neatly on her bed, an action that makes Leah roll her eyes, and then takes off her shirt. Leah gasps quietly at her friend's condition. Leah knows that Casey hasn't been taking care of herself and has been frequently forgetting to eat but looking at Casey standing only in leggings and a bra makes the reality of Casey's situation much clearer. Casey is practically skin and bones, bruises lining the bones of her hips from the unnatural way they jut out of her body. Noticing the looks she is getting from Leah, Casey quickly puts on a tank top and throws the jersey over her small frame.

"I'm fine, Leah," Casey says firmly, "let's do our makeup."

Knowing it would be futile to talk about it now, Leah pulls out some gold and red face paint along with other various items and smirks at Casey. "We're gonna look like the hockey team's hottest groupies." Casey laughs loudly and complies as Leah begins to put foundation on her face.

Thirty minutes later the girls are ready to go and Casey nervously paces the hall outside of her dorm room. "Did you call the Uber yet?" she asks, "I want to make sure we make it on time."

"Casey, the game doesn't start for an hour and a half, we're fine! Besides, we don't need an Uber. I met this guy, Mark," Leah wiggles her eyebrows, "who is super hot and just so happens to be on the hockey team. He's going to be picking us up in like ten minutes. We'll be super early but hey, it beats paying for a ride there."

Casey groans but decides to sit down and wait. "I hope he's on time."

Leah laughs at her friend, "Casey, he's on the hockey team, I don't think he'll be late."

"That never stopped Derek before," Casey grumbles before turning bright red at the fact that she willingly brought her step-brother up. Luckily, she's saved from any smart-ass comments from her friend as Leah's phone starts ringing.

"Hey handsome," Leah gushes. "Oh, you're here? Great! We'll be right out!" Leah hangs up the phone and turns towards Casey, beaming. "See, he's early. You'll like him for sure, come on!" Leah grabs Casey's hand and tugs her out of the door and into the brisk fall air. A car flashes its lights at them, and Leah runs over to open the door, beckoning Casey to follow. After Casey scoots over a gym bag and climbs into the backseat, the driver turns towards her and sticks out his hand. "Hi Casey, I'm Mark. I've heard great things about you from Leah here." Casey shakes his hand and takes in Mark's appearance. He has dark brown hair and blue eyes, an athletic build, and manners, apparently. Casey gives a small nod of approval to Leah after Mark turns around and Leah grins widely, happy that Casey has given her blessing.

A short ten-minute ride and some small talk later, they arrive at the rink. Leah hangs out with Mark outside of the locker room and Casey heads down to the concession stand to grab some snacks before the place gets too crowded. As she is paying for her food, her ears perk up at the sound of Derek's name being mentioned. She slips quietly behind them and walks back with them towards the rink.

"That new kid is pretty good," Hockey Guy One says, "but I don't know if he'll be able to even skate tonight."

Hockey Guy Two snorts, "probably not, he's been keeled over that toilet for about an hour now."

Casey frowns and walks past them, "accidentally" shoulder checking Hockey Guy Two and not feeling guilty about it in the slightest. She fumes as she marches up the steps towards where Leah is sitting and slams the snacks down into Leah's lap. "Hey! What did those snacks do to you?" Leah exclaims, eyes widening at the murder currently written on Casey's face.

"Nothing!" Casey snaps, "I'll be right back."

Leah watches as Casey's retreating form stomps back down the stairs and shrugs, "I'll never fully understand that girl."

Casey makes her way down to the locker rooms and pulls the first guy in a hockey jersey she can find to the side by his arm. "Hey! What are you doing?" The guy snaps at Casey, "I'm not signing any autographs.

Casey snorts, "I don't want your autograph –" She squints at his uniform, "- Davis. What I want is you to give this to Venturi." Casey shoves a stick of mint gum and a bottle of water into Davis's hands and glares, "I need you to relay a message for me, ok?" Davis nods, surprised such a small girl can be so scary. "I need you to tell Derek, in these _exact _words, to pull his head out of his ass and get on the ice."

Davis chuckles at this, "and who do I say sent this message?" he asks.

Casey starts to walk away before answering, "just tell him what I said."


	5. Chapter 5

"Ay, Venturi!"

Derek weakly lifts his head from the toilet bowl and groans at Davis's bellowing voice cutting through the stagnant air. "What do you want, Davis?"

"I got a special delivery here from your girlfriend," Davis shoots Derek at shit-eating grin as he shoves a water bottle and a stick of gum into Derek's hands.

"I don't have a girlfriend." Derek states, confused.

"Eh, girlfriend, groupie, either way," Davis shrugs, "she's scary as hell. Oh, by the way," Davis continues, "she said to tell you, and I quote, 'tell Derek to get his head out of his ass and get on the ice.'"

At this admission the guys in the locker room start howling with laughter.

"God fucking dammit, Casey," Derek grumbles.

"Oooh, Casey," Ethan, another teammate, exclaims. "Sounds sexy, she single?"

Derek shoots up from his position on the floor and sends a threatening glare Ethan's way. "She's off limits, dude."

"Hey, you said it yourself, you don't have a girlfriend," Ethan jokes.

"I mean it Wright," Derek jabs Ethan harshly in the chest, "She. Is. Off. Limits."

Ethan laughs and jokingly raises his hands up, "Ok, ok man. Glad to see you're feeling better."

Derek suddenly realizes that he's not praying to the porcelain goddess anymore, thanks to a certain someone, and cracks the bottle of water, downing it in one gulp. "Goddamn it, Casey." He laughs to himself one more time, she always found a way to distract him from whatever bullshit he had going on. Not that he'd _ever_ admit that. Derek unwraps the stick of gum and pops it into his mouth, he doesn't want to think about Casey anymore. Hearing his coach call his name, he jogs over to his teammates for the pre-game pep talk.

x

Casey plays nervously with the hem of her jersey, scanning the crowd rapidly.

"Helloo, earth to Casey!" Leah waves her hand in front of Casey's face, trying to get her attention.

Casey's head slowly turns towards her friend, "Sorry, what?"

"Where did you go?" Leah asks again.

"Hm?" Casey considers the question, "Oh, I had to um, use the restroom."

"Mhm, sure," Leah draws out her response, noticing Casey is once again not paying attention, eyes anxiously searching the area for something (someone).

Casey lets out an involuntary sigh of relief as she sees number 18 skate out onto the rink, a small smile gracing her face. Leah instantly notices and jostles Casey's shoulder gently. "Derek finally show up?" she teases.

Casey turns bright red. "I wouldn't know," she sniffs.

"You're the queen of denial, Casey," Leah laughs.

"Shut up and keep your eyes on your boyfriend," Casey chuckles.

"What, as opposed to _your_ boyfriend?" Leah says, looking up at Casey with fake innocence.

Casey turns an even brighter shade of red and lightly slaps Leah's arm.

Both of the girls turn their attention to the rink as the sports commentator's voice comes alive to introduce the two teams. The crowd cheers wildly as the Gaels are introduced and even Casey lets out a small cheer as both Mark's and Derek's numbers are called out. This does not go unnoticed by Leah. The opposing team is introduced next and is met with a loud series of boos and hisses. After the crowd settles down, the puck hits the ice and the game begins. Both Casey and Leah lean forward, sitting on the edge of their seats, now fully enraptured by the scene unfolding before them. Casey lets a real grin break out on her face, she has always loved hockey and watching (Derek) the game be played.

What feels like only a few minutes later, Casey and Leah jump to their feet cheering, along with the rest of the crowd, as Gaels end the game undefeated. Leah grabs Casey's hand and yells over the crowd that they have to meet up with Mark before the place gets too crowded. Casey hesitantly lets Leah drag her through the sea of cheering people and prays to whatever deity that is out there that she doesn't see Derek. She shudders at the thought of Derek seeing his number 18 broadcasted loudly on her back; he would never let her live it down.

Leah drops Casey's hand at the sight of Mark and runs excitedly up to her boyfriend, throwing her arms around his neck.

"Way to go, baby!" she shouts, earning Mark some jabs from his teammates.

"Oh fuck off, guys," Mark laughs easily, shooing them away and planting a large kiss on Leah's lips.

Casey smiles softly at the scene; they definitely are a good match for each other. She goes to leave, thanking the powers at be that she hasn't run into Derek when an arm encircles her waist. The universe must fucking hate her.

"Nice jersey, McDonald," a voice rumbles close to her ear. Casey lets herself be drawn closer to the person next to her, resting her head against soft leather.

"Nice assists, Venturi," Casey replies, refusing to look up at Derek. She doesn't have to see him to know that he's grinning at her, he always does when she congratulates him on a win.

"Why Princess," he crows, leaning closer, "I didn't know you cared enough to notice how godly I am on the ice."

Casey frowns at Derek's even closer proximity and shoves his arm away, becoming acutely aware of the fact that Leah and Mark are smirking at them.

"Hey, Casey," Mark calls out, "me, Leah, and the rest of the guys are going out to a pizza place to celebrate, you wanna come with?"

Casey opens her mouth to reject Mark's invitation but Leah cuts her off.

"Of course she'll come!" The redhead exclaims, "besides, she rode with us, Mark." Leah rolls her eyes at her boyfriend and Mark smiles apologetically at Casey.

"It's really ok," Casey insists, "I can catch an Uber or something."

"Casey, it's non-negotiable, you're coming," Leah states firmly.

"Fine," Casey pouts, "you owe me twice now."

"Woo!" Mark cheers, "Leah, Casey, Davis, Venturi, you guys are riding with me. Wright will take the rest of you free-loading bums."

The guys cheer as they pile out the back door, splitting off into the two separate vehicles. Casey begrudgingly crawls into the backseat of Mark's car and Derek slides in smoothly next to her, quashing all hope Casey had for a peaceful ride. She rests her head against the window and sighs. After months of ignoring each other, Casey had forgotten how much Derek feels like _home_. Shaking her head of that traitorous thought, she tilts her head slightly to study the man sitting next to her. He still sports his classic leather jacket and, as always, looks more at ease than her. He looks a bit leaner, more serious, but he hadn't changed much. As if he knew she was observing him, Derek pushes his slightly damp hair out of his face and turns towards her. Casey quickly turns her head back to its original position and silently seethes as he quietly laughs. Davis finally makes his way to the car and Mark starts the engine, prompting a large cheer from everyone in the vehicle but Casey. She closes her eyes as the heater kicks on, warm air circulating the smell of cinnamon, bar soap, and the slight scent of sweat that a quick shower can't quite get rid of. It's so _Derek_ that Casey wants to vomit.

x

"Alright fuckers," Davis calls out to the group, "we went out there and we kicked ass tonight!" A cheer rips through the table. "Now, tonight, we deserve to fucking celebrate!"

"Wrap it up, Davis," one of the guys heckles.

"Alright, alright," Davis waves the guy off, "we have two beautiful ladies joining us tonight so I'm going to do a quick introduction. Casey, Leah, meet these fuckheads. Leah, you obviously know Mark," a few whistles are tossed out, "that fat fuck over there is Tim Lance," a sturdy guy with blonde hair nods towards the girls, "the one at the end of the table is David Velazquez, Ethan Wright is the dick sitting next to Casey, I," Davis turns to grin at the girls, "am the wonderful team captain Jonathan Davis, and Casey, you apparently know Venturi already."

"Oooh, how do you know Venturi, Casey?" Ethan asks. Derek shoots him a murderous glare, but Ethan ignores him, scooting closer to Casey.

"Our younger siblings are close friends, so we were forced to spend a lot of time with each other's families," Casey grumbles while trying to subtly shift away from Ethan, eager to let the subject drop.

Derek, on the other hand, is apparently eager for the conversation to continue.

"We went to the same high school for three years too," Derek snorts, "Casey was a huge fucking keener." The table laughs at that and Casey herself even laughs a little. "She was also a huge klutz." At this, Casey's spine stiffens, Derek knows it's a sore spot for her. "One time, she fell down an entire set of stairs at school because she saw this guy she liked; everyone called her Klutzilla for years."

As the table starts to laugh again, Leah notices that Casey is about to snap and tries to warn Mark to shut it down, but it's too late."

"Aw, that's so great of you to remember, Der," Casey says in a sickly-sweet voice, "Derek was actually the one who started that trend. He may have been rude to me, but he was always super sweet to any hot, blonde bimbo who gave him attention." Casey makes a whipping motion with her hand and the group laughs. "He made my life hell though," she frowns.

"Well, you were no cheerleader," Derek sneers harshly, running his eyes over Casey's form.

Casey glares down at the table and an awkward silence falls over the table.

Luckily, the pizza comes soon after and regular conversation starts back up again. Casey brushes off Leah's concern and picks at the slice of pizza on her plate.

Casey feels like she's suffocating. The restaurant is loud, the table is loud, and Ethan won't stop talking into her ear. She tries to take a bite of her pizza but immediately chokes as she notices Derek glaring daggers at her. All of the sudden it is all too much, and she stands up abruptly.

"I need to step outside," Casey explains to Leah.

"Casey, it's cold out there, just stay inside, I'll call you an Uber if you need one." Leah pleads.

Casey shakes her head, "I can't, Leah," tears spring to her eyes as she gently pushes her friend to the side, "I just can't. I'll call you when I get back to my dorm."

Leah watches her friend walk through the door and frowns.

"What's wrong, babe?" Mark asks as he walks up to Leah, pulling her into a hug.

Leah gestured toward the window, "Derek upset Casey. Again. Jesus, I'm going to kill him."

"It's cold out there, is she going to be ok?" Mark asks.

"Fuck Mark, I don't know. She's about nine kilos underweight wearing inadequate clothing for the weather, she's been working herself to death to avoid Derek, and now she's waiting outside for a fucking Uber after only an hour of socializing for the first time in over a month…and I basically had to drag her to this. Do _you _think she's going to be o – fucking – kay, Mark?" Leah rants.

Mark waits for her to finish her tirade and kisses Leah gently on the forehead. "I'll be right back, ok?"

Leah looks on, confused, as Mark heads out of the door. Through the window's view, she watches her boyfriend hand Casey his jacket as they wait together for Casey's Uber to arrive. Leah smiles, she found a good one.

Walking back towards the table, Leah smacks Derek hard on the backside of his head.

"What the fuck was that for?" Derek snaps.

"You're a fucking dick, Derek. Casey left." Leah snaps back.

"It's not my fault Princess can't take a joke." Derek says defensively, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair.

"You don't get it, she…" Leah gets cut off as Ethan returns to the table with two sodas.

"Oh man, Casey left? She didn't even eat her pizza!" Ethan laments.

Leah gives Derek a disappointed look and walks away, leaving Derek to wonder what the fuck went wrong.

x

A/N: Hey, so I typically don't do author's notes because I feel like they distract from the story, but I wanted to thank ALL OF YOU from the bottom of my heart for your reviews! It really means the world to me. The characters may seem a bit OOC because I honestly haven't watched LwD in years, but I'm so happy you are all reading it anyway. My updates are sporadic because, as my username indicates, I'm a college kid and also work fulltime. I will try my best not to let more than two weeks lapse between each update…I'm trying to make this a longer fic. Again, thanks for the continued support and I'm sorry if this chapter was choppy, I wrote it at work.

~CollegeStressReliever xx


	6. Chapter 6

Derek savors the rush of adrenaline as he does a victory lap around the rink; he can't believe that they won their first game. He fist bumps Mark as they step off the ice, both sporting huge grins.

"Alright, Derek," Mark says as they head to the locker room, "us guys, my girlfriend, and possibly her friend are going to grab some pizza, you in?"

Derek nods, "Sure, is her friend hot?"

"Yeah but from the stories Leah has told me, she can be downright cold if you piss her off," Mark explains.

"I'm used to girls like that," Derek snorts, thinking of Casey.

The guys split off to shower and Mark lets Derek know to meet the rest of the team by the back doors when he's ready.

Derek takes his time, relishing the hot water that is pouring over his head. Even in high school, Derek had always taken the longest to get ready after a game. What can he say, he likes being clean. Can't pick up girls if you're sweaty, even if you did assist the only two goals scored in the whole game.

He dries off and ambles over to the team once he's dressed and sees a girl's figure facing Mark and his girlfriend. Derek grins as he sees his number on her back. Getting closer, Derek stops as he realizes who the girl is. Casey. His heart skips a beat as his brain comprehends what he's seeing. Casey. His jersey. Casey _in_ his jersey. He's never going to let her live this down.

Derek creeps up behind Casey, snaking his arm around her waist.

He lowers his mouth to her ear, "Nice jersey, McDonald." Derek smirks as she refuses to look at him, opting to rest her head against his shoulder instead.

"Nice assists, Venturi," she counters.

He smiles widely, "Why, Princess, I didn't know you cared enough to notice how godly I am on the ice."

Derek notices Ethan running his eyes over Casey, and Derek unconsciously tugs her closer. Casey allows the closeness for a few more seconds before shoving his arm off abruptly.

"Hey Casey," Mark calls out, "me, Leah, and the rest of the guys are going out to a pizza place to celebrate, you wanna come with?"

Derek watches, amused, as Casey attempts to decline the invitation only to be dragged along anyway by Mark's girlfriend. Derek decides that he likes her.

Mark divvies up the players between his car and Wright's, winking at Derek as he puts both Derek and Casey in his. Derek smirks, he knows that his presence alone annoys Casey, and he makes sure he sits right next to her in the backseat of Mark's car. Casey leans her head against the window, letting out a loud sigh as Derek starts messing with the seatbelt. He suddenly gets the feeling that he's being stared at and turns towards Casey. Derek laughs quietly as he watches her quickly turn her head away. He continues to look at her; if she got to stare at him, he should be able to do the same to her. She looks tired, though considerably less than the last time he saw her. She also seems smaller than he remembers; had she always been so tiny? Derek cringes as his thoughts dangerously toe the line between observation and concern, Derek Venturi doesn't do feelings…period. This time, he is the one to look away.

x

The pizzeria is crowded and the group of eight jostles around the table, trying to find a seat without crashing into the tables surrounding theirs. Derek frowns in irritation as Wright sits close to Casey and tells himself it's only because he can't bother Casey as easily. Settling for the seat directly in front of her instead, Derek concludes that he can annoy her just as well from here as she resolutely looks anywhere but ahead.

Davis runs through a quick introduction for the girls and Derek jerks to attention at the sound of his name.

"…and Casey, you apparently know Venturi already," Davis concludes.

"Oooh, how do you know Venturi, Casey?" Ethan asks.

Derek's blood boils as he watches Ethan lean closer to Casey, glaring harshly at the both of them. He listens as Casey explains their relationship, simultaneously relieved and surprised that she leaves out the whole _step_-sibling part.

He clenches his jaw as he watches Ethan get closer and closer to Casey and blurts out, "We went to the same high school for three years, too, Casey was a huge fucking keener." Everyone at the table laughs, even Casey. Derek sees Ethan shift in his seat once again towards Casey and his vision turns red. "She was also a huge klutz. One time, she fell down an entire set of stairs because she saw a guy she liked; everyone called her Klutzilla for years." Derek knows he shouldn't have said that, even as the table laughs again. It's a sore spot for Casey, so he's not surprised when she retaliates.

"Aw, that's so great of you to remember, _Der_," she smiles at him evilly, putting extra emphasis on the nickname she knows he hates. "Derek was actually the one who started that trend. He may have been rude to me, but he was always super sweet to any hot, blonde bimbo who gave him attention." She jokingly makes a whipping motion with her hand and Derek fumes. "He was made life hell though," Casey mutters.

"Well, you were no cheerleader," Derek sneers viciously, making a point to eye her body up and down. He doesn't know why he even said it, but instantly feels that horrible guilt that seems to be reserved solely for Casey rip through his gut. That guilt intensifies as he watches Casey's shoulders tense as she glares down at the table; he knows she's trying not to cry.

An awkward silence falls over the table but is quickly dispelled by the delivery of the group's pizza. Derek piles food onto his plate and continues to send Wright murderous glares as Wright tries to cozy up to Casey. His eyes shift over to Casey as she starts to pick up her pizza, then watches as she drops the slice back onto her plate and stands up abruptly. Derek can't hear what she says to Leah, but he sees the frustration on Leah's face as Casey walks out the door. He returns his attention to his pizza only to feel a sharp sting on the back of his head.

"What the fuck was that for?" Derek hisses, rubbing his head where Leah slapped him.

"You're a fucking dick, Derek. Casey left." Leah snaps.

The Casey Guilt courses through Derek yet again and he leans back, crossing his arms defensively, "It's not my fault Princess can't take a joke."

"You don't get it, she…" Leah gets interrupted as Ethan comes back to the table with a couple of sodas.

"Oh man, Casey left? She didn't even eat her pizza!" Ethan whines.

Leah gives Derek one more look of disappointment before walking away.

x

Derek lays in his bed once he gets back to his dorm and stares at the ceiling. He can't sleep, snippets of the night flashing through his mind. Casey in his jersey. Casey with his last name on her back. Casey and Ethan. Casey looking hurt. Casey's small frame waiting in the cold. Casey, Casey, Casey. As he finally drifts off to sleep, Derek realizes that not once has he thought about the Gaels' win since seeing her.

x

Derek groans as he stares at his accounting homework, wondering for the billionth time why he decided to major in business.

"You know," Mark says, "the school offers free tutoring."

"They do?" Derek asks incredulously.

Leah scoffs, not looking up from her book. The trio were studying together in the library, but Leah was giving him the silent treatment.

"Yeah man, it's the only way I'm passing chemistry," Mark laughs. "Just go to the tutoring center upstairs and they'll help you out."

Derek begrudgingly gathers his materials and starts to walk towards the stairs.

"Good luck, man!" Mark calls out.

After an hour in the tutoring center, Derek understands his homework a bit better, but finds himself reminiscing about Casey's tutoring sessions their senior year of high school. She always kept him engaged and their arguments distracted him from the fact that he was actually learning. Derek briefly considers asking Casey for help again but quickly dismisses that idea. He thanks his tutor for the help and packs up his bag to head to his next class.

x

"How'd the tutoring go?" Mark asks, plopping down next to Derek in the Caf.

Derek sighs, resting his forehead on his hand, "I dunno man, it went ok but I'm still kinda lost."

"You have to find whatever works for you," Mark shrugs, "just make sure you keep your GPA up if you want to keep your spot on the team."

"I don't want to talk about it anymore," Derek groans. "Aren't you supposed to be with Leah right now?"

"She has a dance performance next month, so she has more practices than usual. So," Mark adds on hesitantly, "when are you going to apologize to Casey?"

Derek glares at his friend, "what's it to you, Thompson?"

Mark raises his hands up, "look man, Leah's worried about her and wanted me to ask."

"Well tell your girlfriend to mind her own business," Derek mutters darkly.

Mark drops the subject and they continue to eat in silence.

x

Derek stews in irritation all day. Why does everyone have to harp on him about Casey? It isn't like she's incapable of handling Derek's snide remarks, he has three years' worth of proof to back that up. But then again, college Casey is different. She must be lonely, Derek thinks. She's not as outgoing as him, and the only connection she had here _was_ him. Derek grimaces, maybe he should…

His train of thought is interrupted as his phone starts to ring.

"Hey dad," Derek answers.

"Hi kid. Congrats on your win, Casey told us all about it!" George exclaims.

"She did?" Derek is surprised that Casey even mentioned him to his dad.

"Yup, speaking of Casey," his dad continues as Derek internally groans, "Nora and I want you both to come home for Thanksgiving break, the kids miss you."

"Dad, Casey and I aren't really on speaking terms right now," Derek explains, "I don't really think…"

His dad interrupts, "Derek, the two of you are both adults now; I don't want to hear any excuses. Casey still pays for half of the Prince's insurance," Derek didn't know that, and the guilt builds up again, "so you will be giving her a ride down. I'll see you _both_ on Monday, otherwise the Prince will stay here in London. Later, kid."

His dad hangs up before Derek can protest any further. Derek stares at his phone and sighs. He has three days before he needs to reach out to Casey, and he plans on putting it off until the very last minute.


	7. Chapter 7

After returning to her dorm from the disaster of a night out, Casey decides it's time to stop feeling sorry for herself. Derek obviously is going to continue to be a jerk, so why should she waste any more time on him? She peels off the jersey Leah bought for her and shoves it in the back of her wardrobe, not bothering to fold it. Casey shoots a text off to her friend, letting her know that she made it back safely, and heads to the bathroom to scrub the makeup off of her face.

Casey finishes rinsing her face and grimaces at her appearance. Derek was right, she's no cheerleader. Not that his opinion matters. She starts to account for everything she wants to change as her hands run down her stomach, pinching her fat between her fingers. Her arms are a bit too flabby, her thighs too big, her butt too small. Casey sighs. She silently thanks her dance instructor for enforcing extra practices this month so she can work on toning up and losing weight.

Leah is waiting by her door when Casey walks back to her room and Casey smiles brightly, determined to not let Derek affect her anymore.

"Hey, Leah!"

Leah looks at her warily, "You ok?"

"Yup, never been better! Do you want to go to that 24-hour coffee shop with me? I need to unwind." Casey asks hopefully.

"Sure," Leah shrugs, "I don't have any classes tomorrow, who needs sleep?"

Casey laughs and loops her arm through Leah's, guiding them to the exit.

xxxx

The café is small but cozy. The dim lights flicker occasionally and soft indie music plays in the background, creating a casual, laidback atmosphere. The girls put their coffee order in and make their way over to a plush, dark purple coach to wait.

"That barista was totally checking you out," Leah quietly squeals.

"Oh please," Casey mutters, embarrassed.

"He was, I swear!"  
As if on cue, said barista brings them their drinks, one black coffee for Casey and a frothy latte with extra whipped cream for Leah.

The barista smiles at Casey as he sets the drinks down in front of the girls before walking away, mouthing "call me" at Casey. Casey blushes profusely as Leah smirks, pointing out a number and name scrawled out on Casey's cup. Unbeknownst to Casey, Leah jots down the barista's information just in case Casey doesn't. Adam. That's a nice name, Leah thinks.

The girls walk back to their dorm and Leah pushes the paper with Adam's number into Casey's hand.

"Call him, please? For me?" Leah pleads.

"I'll think about it," Casey laughs lightly.

Leah jabs Casey gently on the chest, "if you don't call him by tomorrow, I'll do it for you."

They both giggle and hug before parting ways.

"Night, Leah."

"Good night, Casey."

xxxx

Leah corners Casey after dance practice, pulling her aside by the arm.

"Did you call him yet?" Leah asks forcefully.

"Not yet," Casey bites her bottom lip, "I'm too nervous."

Leah huffs and snatches Casey's phone from her hand, scrolling through Casey's contacts to dial Adam's number.

"Leah, what the heck are you doing?" Casey whispers in horror as she tries to grab her phone back from her friend.

Leah fends Casey off, "it's ringing!"

"Hello?" A voice answers.

"He answered!" Leah whispers as she passes the phone back to Casey.

"Hello?" The voice repeats.

"Hi, Adam?" Casey asks tentatively. "This is the girl from last night, Casey."

"Hey! Thanks for calling me!" Adam's voice grows more cheerful.

They chat for a few more minutes before Casey hangs up the phone.

"Sooo," Leah prompts, "what did he say?"

"We're going out on a date tomorrow," Casey grins.

"Yes!" Leah shouts excitedly, "my girl has a date! This calls for a celebration, want to grab some ice cream?"

Casey frowns, "I'm not really in the mood for ice cream. Can we go to a movie instead?"

Leah nods reluctantly, "alright, what do you want to go see?"

"The theatre is showing 'Say Anything,' is that okay?"

"Sure," Leah agrees.

xxxx

The girls exit the theatre and dump their empty soda cups in the trash.

"When am I going to get my sappy romance?" Casey whines.

"Maybe you'll get that with Adam," Leah suggests.

Casey stares dreamingly into the distance, "that would be nice," she replies wistfully.

Casey's phone rings, interrupting her daydream. She glances down at her phone and apologizes to Leah, "sorry, I have to take this."

Her friend nods understandingly and Casey answers her phone.

"Hey mom…I miss you too…I wasn't planning on…of course I want to see Lizzie…no, I refuse! Derek and I aren't even talking to…ugh, fine." Casey scowls, abruptly ending the call.

"Dare I ask?" Leah inquires.

"My mom wants me to come home on Monday for Thanksgiving break." Casey responds.

"And that's bad, because?" Leah probes.

"Because," Casey explains, frustrated, "she's insisting I catch a ride with Derek."

"Wow, your families really are close, huh." Leah asks.

"Ugh, you have no idea," Casey complains.

"Hey, at least you still have your date tomorrow, right?" Leah reminds Casey encouragingly.

Casey brightens up, "Yeah! Come over tomorrow and help me choose my outfit?"

"Sorry girl, I promised Mark I'd hang out with him."

"All good," Casey waves off Leah's apology, "I'm sure I'll figure something out."

"Are you going to talk to Derek about going home together?" Leah asks hesitantly.

Casey's face darkens, "I'm sure his dad already talked to him about it. It's Derek's car, he can reach out to me."

Leah drops the subject and they chat about the movie and their upcoming dance performance as they walk back to campus.

xxxx

Sunday afternoon finally rolls around and Casey stands in front of her mirror, appraising her outfit. She decided to go casual, wearing jeans, boots, and a lacy black blouse. She hopes it's appropriate for wherever Adam is taking her.

Her phone buzzes as a text comes in.

Adam: "Hey, I'm here. Are you ready? : ) "

Casey: "Yup! Be right out."

Casey decides to grab her red sweater last minute and heads out the door.

Adam is waiting for her outside of her dorm and waves once he sees her. Casey waves back and sends one last plea to the universe that her klutzy ways are behind her.

"Hey, Casey!" he exclaims.

"Hi," Casey replies shyly.

Adam offers her his arm and leads Casey to his car. "I figured we could grab some lunch downtown, is that ok?"

"Sure, sounds great," Casey smiles at him.

They chat on the car ride there. Casey learns that Adam plays basketball for the school, they bond over the fact that they both have a little sister in high school, and they both brag about their sibling's accomplishments.

"Lizzie is great!" Casey gushes. "She's so passionate about saving the environment, she even went vegetarian and is slowly converting my family to meat alternatives."

Adam laughs, "She sounds great. Karina is super driven, which I really admire. She always undertakes these huge projects and gives them 110%."

They soon arrive to the restaurant and Adam jogs around to the passenger side of the car, opening the door for Casey. She smiles gratefully as he offers a hand to help her out and the hopeless romantic inside of her swoons.

The restaurant is nice but not too fancy, a fact Casey is happy about, given her choice of apparel. They continue to chat, only pausing briefly to order their food. Adam orders a burger with fries and Casey politely asks the waiter for a light salad.

Adam grins at her, "I never would have pegged you for the salad type."

"Why not?" Casey asks.

"Don't take this the wrong way, because you're absolutely gorgeous, but you seem so confident in yourself…typically girls who order salads on dates are insecure."

Casey blushes as he calls her gorgeous and feels like she has to explain. "I usually don't order salads, but I have a dance performance coming up, so our coach is having us watch our diet." It's not technically a lie.

Their food arrives quickly after they order and the rest of the date flies by. Adam walks Casey back to her dorm, stopping before the entrance to the building. As he looks into her eyes and wraps his arms around her waist, Casey's mind wanders back to the way Derek tugged her closer when he had _his _arm around her waist. She swallows hard and resists the urge to push away from Adam.

"You ok?" Adam asks.

"Yeah," Casey tries to smile convincingly. She has no idea why she thought of Derek just now and it's bothering her immensely.

Adam smiles back at her, "will I get to see you again?"

"If you're lucky," Casey teases.

"I really do want to see you again, Casey." Adam insists.

"Well," Casey begins, "I'm going home tomorrow for break. Is sometime after that ok?"

"Absolutely." Adam leans down and pecks her on the cheek, much to Casey's relief. Call her a prude, but she doesn't kiss on the first date.

They part ways and Casey opens her phone to find an onslaught of messages from Leah.

Leah: "How's the date going?"

Leah: "Let me know!"

Leah: "I'm dying for details girl"

Leah: "?!"

Leah: "Ok, Mark told me to leave you alone but you better message me when you're back, bitch ;)"

Casey thinks back on her date and replies.

Casey: "It went great, he was a perfect gentleman."

Leah responds back instantly.

Leah: "But?"

Casey: "But nothing! It was good!"

Leah: "…I don't believe you. We're definitely talking about this after break!"

Casey locks her phone and frowns. Why was Leah doubting her? Sure, she hadn't felt any sparks or whatever, but Adam really had been a perfect gentleman. And besides, it was only the first date, there's plenty of time for sparks to happen.

Casey's phone buzzes again and she opens it, thinking Leah had texted her again. Instead, it's Derek's name she sees on the screen. Casey's thumb hovers hesitantly over the notification, then she takes a deep breath and opens it.

Derek: "South parking lot. 7am. Prince."

Casey doesn't bother replying, she knows that _he_ knows that she'll be there.

xxxx

It's 6am on Monday morning and Casey is leaning up against the Prince, trying to get ahead on some reading for her class. She knows she's obnoxiously early, and that Derek is going to be late anyway, but she can't help it.

Around 7:15, Casey snaps her textbook closed as she sees Derek sleepily stumble towards the car, duffle bag slung over his shoulder. They don't acknowledge each other, not even once Derek gets into the Prince and leans over to the passenger side to unlock the door for Casey. Casey sets her bag in the backseat, barely dodging Derek's duffel bag as he tosses it haphazardly in the backseat as well. Casey glares at him and climbs in the Prince. As an uncomfortable silence settles over the car, both Derek and Casey sigh, this is going to be a long drive.


	8. Chapter 8

Derek is bored. They're only an hour into the five-hour drive home but it feels like it's been much longer. Casey has been ignoring him the whole time (not that Derek has made any effort either) and Derek can't take the silence anymore. He turns on the radio to a metal station he knows Casey hates and cranks up the volume, smirking as Casey huffs and flips the station to the Top 100. Derek knows she's only doing it to spite him, she doesn't even like the Top 100 that much but knows he hates it. He scowls at her and flips the station back to the original, starting a silent countdown in his head.

5…4…3…2…1…

"Der-ek!" Casey's voice pierces the air for the first time. "Why can't you be a normal fucking human being and compromise?"

"There's no need to use such foul language, Princess," Derek mocks. "Just say please."

"Fine," Casey snaps, "_please_ be a normal fucking human being and compromise."

Derek grins triumphantly and changes the radio to a rock station he knows they both like. 'I Miss the Misery' by Halestorm* comes on and Derek finds himself humming the tune as Casey sings along:

"_Ohh, I miss the misery_

_I've been a mess since you stayed_

_I've been a wreck since you changed_

_Don't let me get in your way_

_I miss the lies and the pain_

_The fights that keep us awake-ake-ake_

_I'm telling you!_

_I miss the bad things_

_The way you hate me_

_I miss the screaming_

_The way that you blame me_

_I miss the phone calls_

_When it's your fault_

_I miss the late nights don't miss you at all_

_I like the kick in the face_

_And the things you do to me_

_I love the way that it hurts_

_I don't miss you, I miss the misery_

_I've tried but I just can't take it_

_I'd rather fight than just fake it_

_Cause I like it rough_

_You know that I've had enough_

_I dare you to call my bluff_

_Can't take too much of a good thing_

_I'm telling you!_

Casey sings along so passionately that Derek almost thinks she's directing the lyrics at him. But that can't be right, so he immediately dismisses the thought. He's surprised she even knows the song honestly, let alone that it fits her voice. Something about Casey is definitely different. 'I Hate Everything About You' by Three Days Grace comes on next and this time both Derek and Casey belt out the lyrics. By the time the song ends their chests are heaving with exertion. They suddenly realize that they're smiling at each other and quickly look away. The silence falls over the car once again and Casey rests her head against the window, closing her eyes. Derek turns the volume on the radio down, not for Casey's sake of course, he's getting a headache.

About twenty minutes later, Derek pulls into a gas station, quietly slipping out of the car. After filling up the tank, he climbs back into the Prince and slams the car door shut, handing Casey a coffee as she groggily wakes up from her nap. He takes a sip from his own coffee and watches Casey from the corner of his eye. Derek notes in satisfaction that she has accepted his peace offering, taking a tiny sip from the cup in her hands and grinning at the correct ratio of cream to sugar Derek had added.

The rest of the trip goes by easily. They still don't talk, but the silence is considerably less awkward than it was before. Derek and Casey even sing along together to some songs they both know. As they near the city limits of London, Casey's phone rings and she turns the radio down before answering.

"Hey, Lizzie!" Casey exclaims. "Yeah, we're almost home, an hour, tops."

Lizzie says something and Casey puts her hand over the speaker, turning towards Derek.

"Hey, my mom is making dinner and Lizzie wants to know if meatless lasagna is ok."

Derek opens his mouth to protest but stops when he sees the pleading look on Casey's face.

"Fine, tell your tree-hugging sister we can have," he cringes, "lasagna without meat."

Casey mouths 'thank you' silently and turns her attention back to the phone.

"Hey, Lizzie? Derek says that's fine with him…can't wait to see you too…love you!

xxxx

Derek pulls the Prince up against the sidewalk and stares at the house. It seems weird to be back home.

"You ready?" Derek feels silly asking but is relieved to find hesitation on Casey's face as well.

"Yeah," she pauses as if about to say something, then opens the car door instead. They make their way towards the house together and Marti swings the door open, launching herself at Derek.

"Smerek!" Marti yells.

"Hey Smarts!" Derek picks up his sister with ease, engulfing her in a huge hug and moving the duo inside. Edwin approaches Derek next.

"I beat your top score in Babe Rider," he brags proudly.

"Not for long, brat!" Derek yells as he rushes to the living room. George walks downstairs just as Derek is about to start a new game and turns off the TV.

"Dad, I have to defend my honor! Turn the TV back on!" Derek whines.

George shakes his head no. "You just got home, spend some quality time with the family," he answers firmly.

"I just spent five whole hours with Spacecase, what more do you want from me?"

"You're not my real brother," Casey calls out from the kitchen where she had been talking to Lizzie and Nora.

"You wound me," Derek cries out dramatically, clutching his chest.

Casey scoffs and goes to continue her conversation when Marti comes up, tugging on her sleeve.

"Am I your real sister, Casey?" Marti asks. Derek's ears perk up as he awaits Casey's response, curious.

"Of course you are, Marti," she answers, looking at her youngest sister endearingly. "Derek just doesn't count." Casey sticks her out her tongue at Derek and Marti giggles.

Derek refocuses his attention on Edwin and threateningly points his finger towards his brother, "this isn't over, punk."

Edwin gulps and races up the stairs, Derek following close behind.

xxxx

Dinner is a relatively tame event. Nora dishes out the meatless lasagna and everyone starts catching up on each other's lives. Lizzie talks about the environmental club she started at school and gives her family a lecture on their consumption of plastic, prompting eyerolls from the boys while Casey encourages her to share more information. Marti chats excitedly about the tree fort her and Dimi made, and Edwin boasts about all the girls interested in him.

Lizzie snorts, "only Claire is interested in you."

"That's not true!" Edwin protests.

"Is too!" Lizzie counters. "Besides, the only girl's attention you even want is Lisa's, and you won't grow a pair and talk to her."

"Lizzie! Language!" Nora admonishes while Derek cracks up.

George steers the conversation away from Edwin and to his other son, "What's new with you, Derek? How's university treating you?"

Derek shrugs, "It's been good, we won our first home game and I've been managing to keep my grades up."

"Derek, that's great!" Nora congratulates him.

He brushes off Nora's praise, embarrassed. "It's nothing."

"How about you, Casey?" Nora asks her daughter.

"Hmm?" Casey asks, looking up from her plate.

"What's new with you, sweetie?"

"Oh. Nothing much. I have a dance performance next month, so we've been practicing more." Casey answers.

"With your two left feet, you'll definitely need it," Derek laughs, and Edwin hi-fives him.

All three of the McDonald women glare at Derek, then Nora turns back to her eldest daughter.

"Is there anything else, Casey?" she probes.

"Oh! I went on a date yesterday!" Casey perks up.

"Who would want to go on a date with _you_," Derek scoffs.

"That's wonderful, Casey!" Nora continues, ignoring Derek. "What's his name?"

"Adam. He's the perfect gentleman. He took me out for lunch, opened doors for me, and asked me out on a second date once I get back to uni." Casey swoons.

"Sounds like a real loser," Derek mutters.

Casey whips her head around towards Derek. "Of course you would think having manners equates to being a loser, you Neanderthal." She snaps.

"He sounds like a stick in the mud but, now that I think about it, that's really perfect for you," Derek sneers.

George cuts in, "that's enough out of you two. You've been back for half a day and you're already at each other's throats. Please, behave."

"Sorry," Casey apologizes, looking down at her plate and moving the food around with her fork.

"It's ok honey, I'm sure you and Derek are just tired from the long drive," Nora says sympathetically. "Tomorrow is a busy day for us, Edwin and Lizzie signed up for a fundraiser that runs all day, Marti is going over to Dimi's, and George and I were unfortunately unable to take the day off work…will you two manage not to burn the house down if we leave you alone?" Nora asks nervously.

"I'll just go over to Sam's," Derek replies.

"No worries here, mom, I'm trying to get ahead on some of my homework," Casey reassures her mom.

"Keener," Derek coughs.

Nora sighs and rubs her temple, "I'm trusting you two, alright?"

Derek and Casey nod. Nora starts to gather up everyone's dishes and Casey jumps to her feet.

"Don't worry mom, I can clean up. Go relax." Casey shoos her mom out of the kitchen and the rest of the family follows except Derek.

"Can you eat the rest of your food a little faster please?" Casey asks tiredly.

"Can't," Derek says with his mouth full. Casey grimaces. "I'm eating the rest of yours, waste not, want not ya-know?"

Casey rolls her eyes, "fine, you can finish the dishes then." She walks out of the kitchen, ignoring Derek's cries of outrage.

xxxx

Derek begrudgingly finishes the dishes and heads up the stairs, grateful his dad and Nora let him keep his room for a little bit longer. He hears Lizze and Casey talking quietly, and he pauses by Casey's door to listen.

"Do you like him?" Lizzie asks.

"Yes! I don't know why people keep asking. I've only been on one date!" Casey replies defensively.

"I'm just asking, you seem so…I don't know...so closed off about it. If there's anything I know about you and boys, it's that you believe in fireworks and all that stuff. Is there," Lizzie pauses hesitantly, "someone else you're interested in?"

"I don't know Liz," Casey sighs. "I don't want to even think about it."  
"Why not?" Lizzie asks.

"Because, it just wouldn't work out. Plus, I don't even know if I actually like him or if I've just considered it so much that it looks better in my head." Casey answers. "Besides, he doesn't even acknowledge my existence."

"Have you given him a chance?" Lizzie critiques.

Casey sighs, "Liz, I don't want to get hurt. And he has the most potential to do so. I'm one hundred percent sure he'd laugh at me if I told him anyway."

"You never know, Casey, think about it." Lizzie says gently. The bed creaks as Lizzie gets up to leave and Derek quietly dashes to his room, not wanting to be caught eavesdropping. Who else could Casey possibly like? His mind goes to Ethan and he scowls. It better not be Wright, he hates when Casey dates his teammates.

x*x*x*x

*this song was used in the Dasey fanfiction "A Shot In The Dark' by Hyper13. It fits Casey and Derek so perfectly that I had to use it. Go check out Hyper13's stories, they're amazing!


	9. Chapter 9

Casey hums quietly to herself as she showers. She had allowed herself an extra hour of sleep and had taken her morning run at six, so by the time she had gotten back to the house, everyone had already left. Casey guiltily feels a bit relieved that no one else is home, she needs some alone time to recuperate from the car ride with Derek. She turns the shower knob to the right, stopping the flow of water, and steps out. Casey wraps a towel around her body and returns to her room, thanking her mom and George silently in her head for letting her keep it a bit longer. The thought that one day it won't be hers anymore makes Casey sad, but life moves on. Once in her bedroom, Casey goes to get changed only to find that the bag she brought from university isn't there anymore.

"Are you freakin' kidding me, Derek?" she mutters to herself. She looks around some more, just in case she misplaced it, before sighing in resignation. Casey goes to Lizzie's room and grabs a pair of leggings and a tank top that says "Save the Whales." Grateful to find that they fit, Casey decides to grab a fuzzy pair of socks from Lizzie's dresser as well, it is absolutely freezing in the house. Knowing her bag could only be in one other place if it was indeed still _in_ the house, Casey reluctantly goes down the hallway towards Derek's room. Squaring her shoulders, Casey takes a deep breath and pushes open the door to No Man's Land. She's surprised to find it's not that messy; the bed is unmade but the floor is clear of any rubbish. If she wants to find her bag, it's now or never, Derek could come back at any time and Casey doesn't want him to catch her in his room…even if it is his fault she had to look in his room in the first place. Casey crosses the threshold into the room and makes a beeline for his bed, checking underneath it. Nothing. She frowns and heads to his closet instead. Shuddering, Casey begins to dig through his old clothes. She doesn't find her bag, but she does find a cozy sweatshirt and promptly puts it on, still cold. Casey closes Derek's closet door in defeat and notices his guitar leaning in the corner. She smiles as she thinks about D-Rock and all the fun she had filling in as the lead singer.

Downstairs, the front door slams shut and Casey bolts out of Derek's room. Once she reaches the stairs, Casey slows herself down and puts on a, hopefully, innocent look on her face.

"You home, Derek?" she calls out as she walks into the living room.

"Of course I am," Derek answers from the kitchen, "who else would it…" Derek's voice falters as he rounds the corner, staring at Casey.

"Why are you wearing my sweatshirt?" he asks, voice strangely thick.

"Because _someone_ decided to steal all of my clothes," Casey shrieks. "Oh, and by the way," Casey adds, putting her hands on her hips, "way to be original, you already pulled this prank on me in high school. Getting rusty?"

"Princess," Derek smirks, regaining his voice, "it's not _my_ fault you left your bag in the Prince."

"Der_-ek_! I did not, I had it with me last night! You must have put it back," she accuses.

Derek shrugs, "Either way, it's in the Prince."

Casey lets out a cry of frustration and grabs the car keys off the hook, stomping outside to retrieve her items, outraged as Derek laughs loudly behind her.

xxxx

Casey gets back inside, wet hair clinging to her face. It was cold outside and she's freezing even more so than she was earlier today. She's glad she grabbed a sweater, even if it is Derek's. She walks back into the living room to see Derek sitting in front of the TV, watching a hockey game.

"Oh hell no!" Casey cries, "I was going to watch a movie!"

"First come, first served, Princess," Derek replies, not looking up from the TV.

Casey snatches the remote from off of the couch and switches it over to 'The Notebook.'

Derek shoots up from his chair, "Give the remote back, Spacey."

"Nope," Casey pops the word mischievously.

"Casey," Derek advances menacingly, "Give. It. Back."

He lunges at Casey and she shrieks, racing towards the kitchen. Derek follows, chasing her back to the living room and tackling her onto the couch, wrestling for the remote. They've done this a thousand times before but this time it's different. Because she's straddling his lap and his hands are on her hips and her chest is heaving in front of his face as she tries to keep the remote away from him and…he shoves her off abruptly.

"Ow, what the fuck, Der?" She scowls at him from the floor, still clutching the remote.

He ignores her, opting to sprawl out on the couch instead.

"Derek?" she asks.

He still doesn't answer and she sighs, getting up from the floor to sit next to him on the couch. Casey flips the channel to a movie she knows they both like, 'The Dark Knight,' and he grunts in approval.

Halfway through the movie, Derek notices that Casey is shivering and grabs the blanket from the back of the couch.

"Come here," he says, motioning for Casey to get under the blanket next to him.

Casey gives him a strange look and he rolls his eyes, "Don't read into it, Case. This isn't one of your feel-good family moments, I'm just tired of hearing your teeth chatter while I'm trying to watch the movie."

After a moment of hesitation, Casey decides she would rather take advantage of Derek's offer than continue to freeze and she scurries over to his side of the couch, tucking herself under the blanket. Casey accidentally touches Derek's hand briefly and removes her hand quickly like it's on fire. Derek frowns at her.

"How the fuck are you so cold? It's warm in here." he asks.

Casey shrugs, turning her attention back to the screen. They continue to watch the movie in silence and towards the end, Derek feels Casey's head rest on his shoulder. He starts to protest but realizes that she's asleep. Derek frowns, what is he supposed to do in this situation? He considers pushing her off, but Casey sleepily hugs his torso and burrows closer to him. Derek has no idea what to do, so he does what he does best, he ignores the problem and continues to watch the movie, trying his hardest not to think about his small step-sister cuddled close to him.

xxxx

Casey slowly wakes up, appreciating the warm surrounding her. She blearily opens her eyes to see Derek's sleeping form right next to her, head leaning back on the couch. Casey freaks out internally, listening for any other voices in the house. Gratefully, she concludes that no one else is home and starts to gently untangle herself from Derek. She takes a moment to look at him, frowning slightly. When did they fall asleep? Why didn't he push her off of him? Casey crawls off of the couch and walks back to her room. She sits down at her desk and opens her textbook, definitely absorbing the information found on the pages and definitely not thinking about how _right_ waking up in Derek's arms felt, not at all.

Derek and Casey ignore each other for the rest of the week. The rest of the family looks on, confused, as neither of them start any fights with each other, one always leaving the room as soon as the other one enters.

Nora pulls Casey aside on the Friday before Derek and Casey will be leaving back to university and asks her daughter worriedly, "is everything ok?"

Casey blinks slowly, "of course, Mom, why?"

"Well," Nora says hesitantly, "normally I would count it as a small blessing, but you and Derek have been so quiet this past week. Is there something wrong?"

"Not at all. We just decided to give the family a break from all of our bickering." Casey smiles tightly.

"Alright, if anything is bothering you, you know you can talk to me. Right, honey?" Nora asks, searching her daughter's eyes.

"I know mom," Casey gives her mom a hug, trying to reassure her. "I'm going back up to my room to study, is that ok?"

"Sure baby, don't work yourself too hard." Nora answers.

Casey gives her mom one more smile before walking briskly up the stairs, eager to be away from the questioning look on her mom's face.

A few hours later, Casey hears a small knock on her door.  
"Come in," she calls.

Edwin's head peaks around the door before he fully steps into Casey's room, closing the door behind him.

"Hey Ed, what's up?" Casey asks curiously.

He sits at her desk, twiddling his thumbs nervously, not saying anything.

"Edwin?" Casey gently prompts.

He looks up at her, "Lizzie was right, I don't have the balls to talk to Lisa."

Casey looks at him blankly before the dots connect in her head, "Oh, Lisa is the girl that you're interested in, right?

Edwin nods.

"What's holding you back from talking to her?"

"I don't know," Edwin begins, "she's just, I don't know. We fight a lot, but she challenges me in a way that is kinda, I don't know, fun? I like being around her, but I don't think she would actually want to be with me, you know?"

Casey smiles at her step-brother, "you know, if she's initiating some of the fights, she might like you too. Maybe she just doesn't know how to convey that without fighting, because it's something you two have done for so long."

Edwin looks at her strangely, "that almost sounds like…"

"Sounds like what?" Casey asks.

"Nothing," Edwin shakes his head, "so, you think she might like me?"

"Maybe," Casey shrugs, "you'll never know unless you ask her."

Edwin nods slowly, "you have a point, thanks Casey." He goes to leave the room and pauses, turning towards his step-sister. "You know, you should take your own advice."

"What?" Casey asks, perplexed.

Edwin laughs slightly, "never mind, have a good night."

After Edwin leaves, Casey lays back on her bed, staring at the ceiling. What did Edwin mean, take her own advice? He wasn't insinuating that…no, that couldn't be it. She stares at the wall that separates her and Derek, shaking the troubling thoughts out of her head, and slips into an uneasy sleep.


	10. Chapter 10

The car ride back to Queens had been worse than the one to London. Derek wouldn't look in Casey's direction for the entire drive and had stormed off without even saying goodbye after they arrived at uni. Casey wants to cry, but instead sends a quick text to Adam letting him know that she's back, and trudges to her dorm. She tosses her bag on the floor, not bothering to unpack, and flings herself onto the bed, promptly falling asleep.

A knock on her door wakes Casey up abruptly from her nap and she calls out quietly, "who is it?"

"It's your most favorite human ever!" Leah's voice shouts.

Groaning, Casey hauls herself out of bed and opens the door.

"I heard that," Leah accuses. "You look like shit, have a bagel." Leah shoves the food into Casey's hand, not caring that Casey is scowling at her.

"Nice to see you too," Casey grumbles, sticking her tongue out at Leah and setting the bagel down on her desk.

"Well someone has to tell you the truth," Leah shrugs. "You look like you barely survived a famine and I _know_ something is wrong because you haven't even unpacked your bag yet. So, here's what we're gonna do. You're going to eat that fucking bagel, then we're going to unpack your bag and you're going to tell me exactly what's going on with the whole Adam thing, capisce?"

Casey rubs her forehead tiredly. "I'm not hungry, Leah, and I don't feel like talking right now."

"What part of the itinerary don't you get, Casey?" Leah glares at her. "Eat. Unpack. Talk. End of discussion."

Casey rolls her eyes and begrudgingly picks at the bagel her friend brought. She doesn't put any cream cheese on it, but Leah counts it as a small victory that Casey is eating at all. Once Casey finishes her food, Leah pulls Casey's bag onto the bed next to her and motions for Casey to sit on the other side. Casey obliges and sits down, unzipping her bag.

"Alright," Leah says as she starts to pull clothing out, "let's start with Adam. What's going on there?"

"I don't know, Leah. The date was wonderful! He held the door open for me, we talked about our sisters, he seemed so…perfect."

"But?" Leah prompts.

"I just didn't feel any _sparks_ with him. But I want to give him a chance you know? It's not fair of me to write him off immediately, he's a really sweet guy," Casey rambles.

"That's understandable," Leah nods, then pauses as she pulls out the last article of clothing out of Casey's bag. "Who does this belong to?" She teases, holding up a baggy sweatshirt that definitely isn't Casey's.

Casey blushes. "It's Derek's," she mutters, mortified. She had forgotten that she had even packed it.

"Who? I couldn't hear you," Leah jokes, waving the sweater in front of Casey's face.

"It's Derek's," Casey snaps as she rips it away from Leah's hands. "I borrowed it and forgot to give it back."

"Hey girl, chill. I was just fucking with you, no need to be bitchy."

Hiding her red face in Derek's sweatshirt, Casey mumbles a small, "sorry."

"It's ok," Leah soothes, gently tugging the sweatshirt away from Casey's face. "I need you to answer a question for me. Honestly, ok? Do you like Derek?"

xxxx

Derek slams Wright harshly against the rink walls, earning a whistle from the coach.

"Ease up, Venturi, it's only practice," Davis says as he skates past.

Ethan shoves Derek off, "What the fuck is your damage, man?"

Derek shoves Ethan back and skates off the rink as the coach calls out that practice is over. Ethan quickly removes his skates and jogs to catch up with Derek, grabbing his arm.

"Look man, if this is about Casey, I'm sorry. I stepped out of line."

Derek jerks his arm away and continues to walk to the locker room.

"If it's any consolation," Ethan shouts after him, "she was completely uninterested in me, she was only looking at you."

xxxx

Derek needs a drink. All of this Casey shit is confusing him and he can't get her out of his head.

"This is bullshit," he groans. Grabbing his phone, he sends a text to Mark.

Derek: "Any parties tonight?"

Mark replies back almost instantly.

Mark: "Yeah, one of the frats are throwing a rager later tonight, you in?"

Derek: "Hell yeah."

Mark: "Cool, I'll be back to the dorm around 9, see ya."

Derek locks his phone and looks at the clock, he has a couple of hours before he needs to get ready. He flips on the TV and puts Babe Rider into the Xbox, grinning. Edwin is going to be so pissed when he figures out Derek took the game.

xxxx

"So," Leah asks again, "do you like Derek?"

Tears well up in Casey's eyes as she hugs Derek's sweatshirt tightly against her chest and whispers, "I can't."

"Why not, honey?" Leah asks.

This question causes Casey to start openly sobbing, tears streaming down her face. "Promise you won't hate me?"

"Of course I won't," Leah reassures her friend, rubbing circles on Casey's back.

"He's," Casey sniffles, "he's my step-brother." Crying even harder, Casey opens up to Leah about how her mom remarried while she was in high school and how difficult Derek made her life. "We would prank each other viciously but always had each other's backs where it mattered. He reached out to my dad for me when I missed him, and I even helped him graduate our senior year. I don't know when I started _liking_ him. I hate myself for it! I'm so fucking stupid."

"You're not stupid," Leah murmurs.

"I just thought that maybe, even if I couldn't be with him, we could at least be friends. But he's been awful to me since we started Queens!"

Leah hands Casey a tissue, looking at her sympathetically.

"Do you think I'm gross?" Casey asks, bloodshot eyes looking meekly up at the redhead.

"Not at all," Leah states. "It makes sense. You two met when you were what, fifteen? That's a little too late for family bonding."

Casey leans over and hugs her friend fiercely, "thank you."

Leah returns the hug and they only break apart once Casey's phone rings. Casey quickly wipes the remaining tears from her eyes and answers.

"Hey Adam! Nope, no plans for tonight…sure, I'd love to! Alright, see you then."

"Did he ask you out on another date?" Leah inquires.

"Sort of, he invited me to party."  
"Awesome!" Leah exclaims.

"Yeah, but I have nothing to wear," Casey frowns.

"Oh please, you have to have _something_." Leah states factually, moving to Casey's wardrobe. After digging around, Leah tosses a pair of black strappy heels at Casey and groans, "You weren't kidding when you said you have nothing, that's all I could find."

Looking at Casey's crestfallen face, Leah quickly adds, "not to worry, Cinderella! Your Fairy Godmother has your back. Do your makeup, I'll be back in an hour, tops."

Before Casey can ask any questions, Leah scurries out of the room. "Make sure your eye makeup is smoky!" she calls over her shoulder.

Casey grins, she's lucky to have Leah as a friend.

xxxx

Derek walks back to his room after showering, excited for the party, excited to forget about…stuff. He opens his dorm door to find Mark and Leah talking. They go silent as soon as he enters and Leah shifts her bag, looking guilty. Derek nods sharply and she waves before dashing out of the room. Derek shoots Mark a questioning look and Mark just shrugs. Derek groans internally, he really hopes Leah isn't coming, he needs a guys night. Shifting through his clothes, Derek is pissed to find that his leather jacket is missing. Did he leave it in London?

xxxx

Casey looks at her face through the mirror on her desk. She did a pretty decent job, she thinks. Her eyeshadow is a deep burgundy and her eyeliner created the smoky look that Leah specifically requested. Casey puts on mascara as the finishing touch and hears a sharp knock on her door as she screws the cap back on.

"Coming," she calls.

Casey opens the door and Leah barges in, grinning mischievously. "I have the perfect outfit for you, from the closet of yours truly," Leah pronounces dramatically. Casey laughs as Leah pulls the clothes out of her bag and tosses them at Casey.

Casey tugs on a short, black leather mini-skirt that barely reaches her mid-thigh and pulls a dark purple tank top with a plunging neck line that accentuates her cleavage over her head. Casey frowns at her reflection then turns towards Leah.

"Isn't this a bit too, risqué?" she asks nervously.

"Nah," Leah assures her. "Besides, I brought one more thing that will really tie the whole outfit together."

Leah whips out a leather jacket from her bag and smiles triumphantly, "ta-da!"

Casey gasps in horror, "Leah, please tell me that's not – "

"Derek's?" Leah finishes her sentence for her. "Sorry hun, it is. And it's perfect for your outfit, so put it on."

Casey continues to stare at the jacket in shock. "How…how did you even get that?" she whispers.

Leah shrugs, "I have my ways. Are you going to put it on, or am I going to have to do it for you?"  
Casey shakes her head, "Derek will literally murder me if he sees me in his jacket."

"Casey, I checked with Mark, they're staying in tonight." Leah explains.

Reluctantly, Casey takes Derek's jacket and slips it on. It falls over her skirt by about an inch or two and she has to admit that it _does_ go perfectly with her outfit. Had Casey not been overwhelmed by the fact that she was in _Derek Venturi's_ jacket, she would have seen the lie written on her friend's face.

xxxx

Adam picks Casey up at 10pm sharp. The car ride is dead silent, but Casey writes it off, figuring that he must be tired. They pull up to the fraternity, music is blaring loudly and can be heard from inside the car. Casey goes to open the car door when Adam stops her, holding her upper arm tightly.

"Hey, Casey?" he asks.

"Yeah?"  
"I have a question for you," Adam replies, looking uncomfortable.

"Sure, what's up?" Casey looks at him inquisitively.

"I saw you earlier today when you got back from break," he begins.

"Oh, ok. Why didn't you say hi?"

"Well, you got out of some guy's car, are you seeing someone else?" The grip on Casey's arm tightens just a little bit more.

"Oh, God no!" Casey exclaims, laughing nervously. "He's just my s- , a close family friend. My mom asked me to ride home with him to save her on gas."

"Oh, alright, cool." Adam releases her arm and leans over to kiss her cheek. "I'll get the door for you."  
Adam gets out of the car and, as he walks around to the passenger side, Casey frowns and rubs her arm. Something seems…off.

The party is in full swing when Casey and Adam walk in. Casey immediately feels overwhelmed and looks at Adam gratefully as he steers her towards the kitchen.

"Do you want me to make you a drink?" Adam shouts over the music.

"No, it's ok. I'll just have a beer," Casey responds.

A brief look of irritation crosses Adam's face and Casey worries that she offended him. It's not that she doesn't trust Adam to make her a drink, it's just that she would rather be safe than sorry.

A smile quickly graces Adam's face once again and he hands her a beer.

"Thanks," she smiles back as she pops the cap off. He nods and leads her out of the kitchen by hand. They mingle with other party-goers and Casey is surprised to find that Adam knows a lot of the guys in the frat. She drinks another two beers to ease her tension then excuses herself to the restroom, feeling a bit woozy. Casey locks herself into the bathroom and stares at her slightly blurry reflection.

"You are here to have fun," she says to herself sternly. Breaking out into a fit of giggles, she unlocks the door and starts her search for Adam.

xxxx

Derek takes a swig of beer from the bottle in his hand and surveys the room, bored. He's been at the party for fifteen minutes and still hasn't seen or done anything noteworthy. Mark comes to sit down next to Derek and leans over so Derek can hear him.  
"There's a cute blonde over there who's checking you out," Mark says, pointing to a girl across the room.

Derek turns to look towards the direction Mark is pointing when he sees a familiar face out of the corner of his eye. Casey. His jaw drops slightly as his eyes roam involuntarily up her body. Black heels, legs that go on for days, a tight black skirt. Derek's eyes reach her torso and his jaw clenches shut. The shirt Casey is wearing is so low cut it should be illegal and, to make matters worse, she's wearing his goddamn jacket.

The longer he watches her the angrier he gets. It was bad enough seeing her in his sweatshirt, but his fucking jacket? Really? It's like Casey is _trying_ to kill him. Derek stands up from his seat on the couch to follow her, ignoring Mark's question of where he is going.

Derek catches up to Casey as she's walking down a hallway and puts his hand on her shoulder, spinning her around to face him.

"Derek!" Casey exclaims, smiling brightly at him. "Leah said you wouldn't be here tonight!"

"What does Leah have to do with this?" Derek asks.

'I'm soo happy to see you!" she babbles, not hearing his question.

Derek shakes her shoulders gently, "Are you drunk, Case?"

"Mmmm, I think so," she giggles, squinting up at him.

"I need my jacket back, Spacecase." He replies sternly.

"Nooo," Casey cries, hugging the jacket close to her body. "I like it."

Derek takes a step towards Casey and she takes a step back. He continues to approach her, and she continues to move away, until her back is against the wall and his hands are on her hips and her eyes are staring up at him and…

"Derek, what are you doing?" Casey whispers.

Derek moves his hands from her hips and grabs the material of his jacket, tugging her towards him slightly.

"Princess," he rests his forehead on hers, "I'm only asking once. Give me my jacket back, now."

"Why?" Casey whines.

Derek eyes flash with anger and he moves his head away from hers. "Because I don't want you to fucking have it," Derek snaps. "It's not like you're my fucking girlfriend or something!"

Casey's eyes grow wide and she furiously blinks back tears. Pushing Derek away, she rips off his jacket and shoves it into his arms.

"Why do you have to ruin everything for me?" She mutters.

"Casey…" Derek starts.

"Fuck off, Derek," Casey hisses venomously, picking up her purse from where it fell on the floor. "I get that you can't stand being around me, just leave me alone."

She hears her name being called in the distance and she walks back down the way she came, meeting Adam at the end of the hall. Derek stares at Casey's retreating form and runs his hand tiredly through his hair, he needs another drink.

xxxx

Adam has a tight grip on Casey's arm as he drags her away from the hallway and up the stairs of the house. His eyes are red with anger and he's scaring the shit out of Casey.

"Ow, Adam, you're hurting me." Casey cries.

He slams her against the wall and puts his face close to her own, breath reeking of alcohol. "I'm upset Casey. You told me that guy is just a "family friend" but I found you two all cozied up together in a dark hallway."

Casey tries to squirm away from him, but he holds her firmly in place.

"I was telling the truth, we weren't cozied up, we were arguing."

Noticing the tears in her eyes, Adam releases his grip on Casey and wipes them away softly.

"I'm sorry," he says, placing his hand on her waist. "I just really like you, and I don't like to share.

Casey pushes his hand off of her, "you're scary and I don't like you anymore."

Adam's face turns an ungodly shade of red and he slams her into the wall once again. Panicking, Casey slams her heel down hard onto his foot and he lets go.

"You fucking bitch!" Adam screams. "I can't believe I was even interested in a whore like you!"

Shocked, Casey stumbles down the stairs. She pushes her way towards the front door, feeling the guys around leering at her chest that is now more exposed without the aid of Derek's jacket. She flings the front door open and steps outside, taking a deep breath, before walking further from the house, not wanting Adam to catch up with her if he was indeed following her.

After confirming no one is coming after her, Casey stops walking and shivers violently. It's cold and her outfit definitely isn't weather proof. She goes to pull her phone out of her purse to call an Uber but can't find it.

"Shit!" Casey screams. She left it in Derek's jacket. As if her night could get any worse, it starts to rain.


	11. Chapter 11

Hours later, Casey miraculously makes it back to her dorm. Her head is killing her, whether from the alcohol or the rain she's not sure. Stripping out of her wet clothes, Casey grabs Derek's sweatshirt that Leah left on the back of her chair and shrugs it on, appreciating the warmth that it offers. Plopping onto her bed, Casey falls into a feverous sleep.

xxxx

"For the love of god, please turn your phone off," Mark groans, covering his head with a pillow.

"It's not mine," Derek replies.

"It's coming from your side of the room!" Mark huffs.

Derek groggily reaches down to the floor and fumbles around for the source of the noise. Pulling a phone out of his jacket, he answers, half-awake.

"Hello?" Derek sleepily drawls.

"Derek?" Leah's voice asks on the other side of the line. "Why are you answering Casey's phone? Is she with you?"

Derek stays silent, trying to process what happened last night. Party. Drink. Casey in his jacket. Her face close to his. Him being cruel. Her walking away. Drink. Fuck.

"Derek? You there?" Leah's voice brings him back to the present.

Derek clears his throat, "Yeah, I'm here. She's not with me, I think she accidentally left her phone in my jacket."

"Do you know if she made it home safe?" Leah's voice becomes panicked, "I went by her room, but she didn't answer the door…I should have gone with her!" Leah starts to cry, and Derek gets uncomfortable.

"Uh, look, Leah. I'm sure she's ok. Don't, ya know, cry or anything. I'm gonna, uh, hand the phone to Mark now." Derek tosses the phone to Mark and lays back down on his bed.

"Hey babe," Mark answers. "It's ok, we'll check up on her. Try to get some rest…I'll make sure we keep you updated…no problem. Bye."

As soon as Mark hangs up the phone, he chucks his pillow at Derek.

"Go check on her," Mark orders.

"Can't. Don't know her dorm number," Derek grumbles, not looking at his roommate.

Mark snorts, "We both know that's bullshit. Why are you balls deep in denial when it comes to Casey?"

"I don't know what you mean," Derek refutes.

Mark gives him a frustrated look and sighs, "Come on, man. I know you like her."

"Nope," Derek starts to laugh nervously, "you couldn't be more wrong. That girl is the _last_ person I could like."

"Why? Because she's your step-sister?" Mark asks plainly.

Derek chokes, "How…"

"Leah. Casey told her last night," Mark answers Derek's unfinished question.

"Look man," Derek starts to reply, "just mind your own b –"

"Derek," Mark says urgently, "you need to see this."

"Ugh, what?" Derek groans, swinging his legs over the side of his bed to sit up.

Wordlessly, Mark hands Derek Casey's phone.

"What about it…oh," Derek tapers off. There are 33 missed texts and 10 missed calls from some guy named Adam. He knows that snooping is wrong, but that's never stopped him in regard to Casey before. Derek clicks on the text icon and starts reading the messages.

Adam: "Hey, I'm so sorry. I overreacted, please come back."

Adam: "Casey?"

Adam: "?"

Adam: "I said I was sorry, what more do you want?"

Adam: "Seriously? You're ignoring me? Real mature."

Adam: "Why are you such a fucking bitch? I saw you with that guy, I bet you're fucking him."  
Adam: "I don't even know why I'm wasting my time on you, you're ugly anyway."

Adam: "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it. You're beautiful, I don't deserve you."

Adam: "Casey?"

Derek's blood boils as he reads through the messages, they're a mixture of horrible insults and shitty 'apologies;' if you can even call them that. Disgusted, Derek goes to shut Casey's phone when a new text comes in.

Adam: "I'm coming over."

xxxx

Casey groans underneath her pile of blankets as a pounding noise can be heard from the other side of her door.

"Shh," she croaks, uselessly. The knocking continues.

"Casey? You there? Answer the door!" A voice demands. Casey's blood runs cold as she recognizes the person the voice belongs to. Adam. She pulls the covers further over her head, trying to block him out.

'Maybe, if I ignore him, he'll just go away,' Casey thinks.

"I know you're in there, Casey. I'm not leaving until you come out," Adam's voice proclaims.

Casey starts to sob quietly; luck is never on her side.

xxxx

Derek jumps out of bed and grabs his jeans, tugging them on. He snatches a shirt off the floor and hurriedly pulls it over his head, swearing as it gets tangled near his shoulders. Casey's phone buzzes again and Derek looks down.  
Adam: "Let me in."

"Fuck!" Derek yells, racing out the door.

It takes Derek nine minutes to reach Casey's dorm and only seven seconds to tear Adam away from Casey's door and pin him to the opposing wall.

"What the _fuck_ do you think you're doing?" Derek growls.

Adam may be taller, but Derek has muscles built up from years of hockey and pure, unadulterated rage flowing through him so, when Adam tries to escape, Derek finds it easy to hold him in place.

"Let me go, bro. I'm just checking on my girlfriend," Adam pleads.

"She's not your fucking girlfriend, asshole," Derek snaps.

Adam's face contorts into an ugly sneer, "I knew you two had something going on! What a fucking slut."

Derek loses it. Pulling his fist back, he punches Adam in the face, hard. Adam drops to the floor and presses his hand to his nose, trying to stop the bleeding. Derek picks him up by his shirt and hisses, "stay away from Casey, understand?"

"Fine, she's a fucking bitch and a whore. Enjoy," Adam grins vindictively at Derek.

Derek draws his arm back to hit Adam again when an arm reaches out to stop him.

"He's not worth it, man." Mark says, holding onto Derek's arm. Derek hadn't even realized that his roommate had followed him. "I'll take care of this sack of shit and make sure the team knows to keep him away from Casey, ok?"

Derek nods and releases his hold on Adam.

"Go check on Casey," Mark orders. "I'll take it from here." Mark grabs Adam and drags him out of the dorm building, Adam cursing the whole way.

Derek takes a deep breath and forces himself to calm down before approaching Casey's door.

"Casey," he calls out quietly as he raps on the door. "It's Derek. Adam's gone." No answer. "Case, come on, open the door. I – Leah needs me to make sure you're ok."

He hears shuffling on the other side of the door and breathes a sigh of relief. The door creaks open and Casey timidly pokes her head out of the darkness of the room. She looks up at Derek, eyes bloodshot and darkened by the mascara that has run down her face.

"I'm fine," she rasps, coughing slightly. "You've done your brotherly duties; you can leave now."

Derek cringes at the b-word and mutters, "_step_-brother."

"What difference does it make at this point?" Casey asks tiredly.

Derek doesn't answer and Casey goes to shut the door but collapses instead.

"Shit, Case!" Derek jumps to action, picking Casey up in his arms. He frowns at how light she is as he carries her over to her bed, gently setting her down and placing the blankets over her. Sitting down next to her, Derek rests the back of his hand on Casey's forehead as she comes to.

"You're burning up, Spacey." Derek won't admit it, but he's worried for the petite girl lying next to him. "What happened?"

"Walked home. No phone to call. Raining." Casey replies deliriously.

Derek grimaces, remembering how her phone came into his possession in the first place.

"I'm going to get you some cold meds, ok?" He informs her.

As he goes to get up, Casey's hand emerges from the covers, gripping Derek's forearm tightly.

"Please don't leave. I know you hate me but please don't leave me. I'm scared," she rambles frantically.

Derek sighs and lays down over the blankets next to Casey.

"I won't leave," he mutters. Casey breathes a sigh of relief and drowsily closes her eyes. Derek sends a text to Mark letting him know to tell Leah to come to Casey's dorm with cold medicine and clicks his phone shut.

"You know I don't hate you, right Spacecase?" He doesn't hear an answer, so he turns to face her, only to realize she's fast asleep.

xxxx

Derek slowly wakes up, smiling at how warm and comfortable he feels. As he opens his eyes, he becomes aware of two things. One, Casey's face is inches from his own and he's holding onto her tightly. Two, there is a gentle tapping on the other side of the door. He lets go of Casey and quietly crosses the room to open the door.

"Hey Casey – Derek?" Leah looks at him curiously. "What are you doing here?"

Derek turns red and grumbles, "she was scared, didn't want me to leave. Did Mark tell you about Adam?"

Leah nods.

"Good, then you can take it from here." Derek walks off before Leah can say anything, but he can feel her eyes burning holes in his back as he exits the building.

xxxx

"Casey," a voice calls out quietly. "Casey, wake up."

Groaning, Casey opens her eyes to find Leah sitting next to her on the bed. Wordlessly, Leah hands Casey medicine and a bottle of water. Casey take the pills and grimaces, placing her hand against her head. She could have sworn Derek had been here. Had it all been a dream?

***xxxx***

A/N: Hey everyone! I just wanted to take a moment and say thank you, again, for all of your reviews. I have an important question to ask you guys:

How committed are you to this fic? Because I want to drag the angst out and make it longer, but I also don't want you all to lose interest. Please let me know if you are ok with me dragging this fic out or if you would like to wrap it up within the next few chapters because I can do that as well.

Thanks for your input!

Collegestressreliever xx


	12. Chapter 12

The next couple of weeks are a blur for Casey. Everyone on the hockey team, sans Derek, has stuck by Casey's side like glue to ensure that Adam stays away. Davis walks Casey to her morning classes, Lance and Velazquez rotate walking her to her afternoon classes, Leah (and Mark when he has time) goes with her to dance practice, and Ethan hangs out with her in between those times and drags her to the hockey practices. In all honesty, Casey is impressed by the amount of coordination that has gone into the scheduling and suspects Leah has had a large part in it. Casey has to admit that the hockey team has really grown on her. She and Davis have long talks about modern medicine and ethics; Mark is caring and treats her like a younger sister; Velazquez, she has found, is shy but lights up when talking about music; Lance is a business major who would rather be in culinary school and has the best sense of humor, he has officially dubbed Casey as the Gael's lucky charm because every game she goes to they win. It's Ethan's company, however, that Casey appreciates the most. They have long talks about life and future goals; Casey tells Ethan how truly terrified she is of failure and Ethan confides in Casey about his dreams of starting his own business, but no one takes him seriously. Ethan reassures her that failure isn't the end of the world and Casey reassures him that, if anyone, he would be the one to be able to start a business.

Currently, Casey is working on her creative writing assignment at the rink while the boys run through their drills. Through she is now used to how cold it is at their practices, she still bundles up head to toe in a beanie, scarf, boots, and, yes, Derek's sweatshirt. It's become almost a source of security for her and she wears it more than she would like to admit.

The coach signals that practice is over, and Casey starts to pack up her bag. A few minutes later, Ethan jogs over and pulls Casey's beanie off, placing it on his own head.

"Hey!" Casey exclaims in fake outrage, "Give it back!"

"No way, McDonald," Ethan teases, sticking his tongue out.

Casey huffs and jumps up, snatching her beanie back. "You're getting slow, Wright. You ready to go?"

"About that," Ethan says sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head, "I actually have a date so I can't walk you back."

Casey starts to internally panic; she's seen Adam lurking around her dorm and classes but, so far, he hasn't approached her due to someone else being around her at all times. She tries to quell her fears for Ethan's sake, she doesn't want to ruin his date.

Putting on what she hopes is a convincing smile, she says, "that's great, Ethan! Let me know how it goes!"

She slings her bag over her shoulder and starts to walk away when Ethan stops her.

"Where are you going?" he asks.

"Back to my dorm?" Casey replies.

"By yourself? Hell no! Venturi!" Ethan calls out loudly, getting Derek's attention. "Get your ass over here!"

Derek saunters over slowly and rolls his eyes.

"What do you want?" he asks Wright, not looking at Casey.

"McDonald here needs an escort and none of us can take her so…you're up! Have fun you two!" Ethan winks and races off before Derek can protest.

Casey nervously shifts her weight from one foot to the other before looking up guiltily at Derek.

"I'm sorry," she starts to apologize, "you don't have to…"

"It's fine, Spacey," Derek interrupts. "Let's go." Derek grabs Casey's bag from her and starts walking towards the exit.

After getting over the initial shock of Derek being…nice to her, Casey runs to catch up with Derek and decides to push her luck.

"Hey, Derek?" she asks hesitantly.

"What?" he replies gruffly.

"Do you mind going to the coffee shop with me on First Street? I need to study but Ethan usually goes with me. You don't have to though!" Casey rambles.

"Sure," Derek responds curtly.

Happily surprised by his response, Casey walks silently alongside Derek to the Prince. They're quiet the whole car ride and, once Derek parks the Prince at the coffee shop, he places his hand gently on Casey's arm before she can get out.

"Look, Case," he begins, "about the party and the whole thing with my jacket, I'm s…"

"All good, I shouldn't have worn it anyway. I told Leah it was a bad idea so let's blame her, ok?" Casey smiles at Derek, saving him from having to make an elaborate apology.

He smiles back gratefully and tugs on his sweatshirt that she's wearing, "this one looks better on you anyway."

"Are we good now?" Casey questions nervously.

"If you buy me a coffee," Derek jokes as he jets out of the car.

"Der-ek!" Casey shrieks, following close behind.

And just like that, they're back to normal. Well, whatever normal means for Derek and Casey, that is.

xxxx

Derek and Casey slowly start to hang out more often. It starts with Derek taking her to dance practice (and not even flirting with any of her teammates!) to them studying together every weekday at a coffee shop.

Today, Derek is thirty minutes late and Casey is annoyed (worried). She stares at her empty coffee mug and contemplates leaving, when Derek slides into the seat across from her.

"Der-ek," she hisses, quietly breaking his name in half, "you're late."

"Aw, worried about me, Princess?" Derek smirks.

"In your dreams, Venturi," Casey retorts, turning red. "What are you working on today?"

Derek groans, "accounting homework, do you have time to help me?"

"Yeah sure," Casey shrugs. She won't tell him, but she finished her homework long before he arrived. He doesn't need an ego boost.

"Cool, thanks. I'm going to grab a coffee real quick," Derek states as he stands up.

Casey watches as he places his order with a cute, blonde barista that is _definitely_ flirting with him. Sighing, she looks down at her phone.

Startled, Casey jolts to attention as Derek sets a drink down in front of her and drags his chair next to Casey's.

"Easier to teach my hopeless ass if we can both see the textbook," he grumbles in response to her questioning glance as he sits down.

Casey nods slowly, then spots a number written on her cup.

"I think Kristen with a 'heart' mixed our cups up," Casey notes blandly.

"That's ok," Derek says nonchalantly, "she's not really my type."

"Since when is hot, blonde bimbo _not _your type?" Casey puts her hand on Derek's forehead, "are you sick?"

Derek swats her hand away and grins, "hasn't been my type for a while, Spacey. You just haven't noticed."

Casey doesn't know how to respond so she opens Derek's textbook instead.

"So which part do you need help on?"

xxxx

Derek groans, head over the toilet. He hasn't been sick due to his nerves for a while (since Casey started coming to his games) but this game is a big one and he can't calm himself down.

"Derek! I swear to god if you don't get your ass out here right now I'll come get you myself," Casey's voice bellows from outside of the locker room.

The guys start roaring with laughter until Casey turns her wrath onto them.

"Oh, this is funny to you?" Casey snaps.

The guys meekly shake their heads no.

"Yeah, that's what I thought."

Derek groans again, ignoring Casey.

"Alright, Derek, times up!" she yells.

Casey storms into the locker room and Derek looks up from his spot on the floor, marveling at the fierceness radiating off of her. Even though she's small, Casey is definitely a force to be reckoned with. She places her hands on her hips and glares down at Derek, prodding him with her foot. Continuing to look up at her, Derek can't help but laugh at the sight of "Angry Casey" wearing his jersey.

"What's so funny?" Casey huffs.

"You're cute." The words are out of his mouth before Derek has time to stop them and they both freeze.

"Uh, here. I, um, brought you some water," Casey stutters, blushing profusely.

Derek takes the water, avoiding eye contact.

"Thanks," he mutters.

"Hey, Derek?" Casey asks.

Derek looks back up at her, "what's up?"

"You're gonna kick ass out there," she smiles brightly at him and suddenly he feels much better.

"Ay, Ms. Lucky Charm!" Lance calls out. "Stop flirting with Venturi, we've got a game to win."

Casey turns an even brighter shade of red and scrambles out of the locker room, ignoring the boys' teasing.

Derek grins and grabs his skates, Casey is right, he _is _going to kick ass out there.


	13. Chapter 13

"You nervous?" Leah asks Casey. "Because I'm nervous as fuck!"

Casey smiles at her friend, "we've been practicing hardcore for over a month now, we've got this in the bag."

Leah pulls back the heavy stage curtain just enough to poke her head out and looks slightly nauseous as she turns back to Casey.

"There are a lot of people out there, Casey," Leah laments.

"And Mark is one of those people," Casey says encouragingly before frowning. "I wish someone was out there for me."

Leah pats Casey's hand sympathetically.

"Maybe Derek came," she suggests.

Casey snorts, "yeah, right."

"Doubting me, Princess?" Derek's voice rings out from behind her.

Casey spins around to find both Mark and Derek standing near them. Leah squeals with happiness, running up to her boyfriend, and Casey slowly walks up to Derek.

"What are you doing here, Derek?" Casey asks warily.

"Returning the favor?" Derek tries.

Casey continues to give him _the look_ and he caves.

"Fine, I came because I had to escort some special people. Come on out guys!"

Marti sprints out from around the corner and hurls herself into Casey's arms.

"I missed you!" Marti says excitedly.

"I missed you too, Marti," Casey kisses the top of her step-sister's head and tries to subtly wipe her misty eyes. She sets Marti down and hugs Lizzie next.

"I missed you too, Casey. I wish I got to see you more," Lizzie mumbles into Casey's shoulder. Casey feels a bit guilty.

"Maybe we could Skype every Sunday, how does that sound?

"That works," Lizzie grins.

Nora gently pushes her younger daughter to the side and hugs Casey.

"I missed you, baby! I'm so excited to see you perform!" Nora gushes.

"This is great guys, I'm really happy to see you all! But why did you decide to come out for me? Derek was the one who had a big game last week," Casey points out.

Derek gives Casey a look of surprise at her gentle criticism of their family on his behalf.

"It's just how it worked out, honey," Nora soothes, then turns to Derek, "I promise we'll make it out to your next game, ok?"

Derek nods, "it's all good."

Cue music starts to play and Casey shoos her family out of the backstage area.

"Go take your seats, it's going to start soon."

As the family starts to file out, Derek lingers behind.

"Hey, Case?" He gets her attention.

"Hm?"

"Break a leg, or whatever," he says uncomfortably.

"Thanks, Der," Casey grins widely.

"Or maybe I should have said 'good luck' instead, inner Klutzilla doesn't need more encouragement," Derek says without malice.

"Der-ek!" Casey's voice calls after him as he rushes off the stage.

xxxx

The dance performance was amazing. Derek will never admit it, but Casey always looks at home on the stage. He wonders, not for the first time, why she didn't take the offer to go to Broadway.

Casey meets her family in the lobby of the theater and smiles brightly as George hands her a bouquet of roses.

"Did you guys like it?" Casey asks hopefully.

"Hell yeah, you kicked ass! I thought it was going to be boring, but it wasn't!" Edwin tells her.

"Hey, watch your language!" George admonishes while Casey laughs.

"Sorry," Edwin responds sheepishly.

"It was great, Casey," George reassures his step-daughter. "We're all going out to dinner, you and Derek as well, okay?"

Derek starts to whine about having plans and Lizzie scoffs.

"Are you really complaining about free food, Derek?" Lizzie asks.

Derek immediately stops complaining and shouts, "I'll be by the car!"

The rest of the family laugh as they take their time walking out of the door.

xxxx

George and Nora take the family out to a nice restaurant, why, Derek has no idea. The group of seven are, as always, loud and disturbing the otherwise calm atmosphere. Lizzie and Edwin are arguing over Edwin ordering steak; Marti is animatedly talking about her newest interest (reindeer) to anyone who will listen; George and Nora are talking quietly to themselves; and Derek has taken the opportunity to do what he does best, bug Casey.

"Looks like Klutzilla didn't get a change to rear her ugly head," Derek jokes.

"Yeah, how unfortunate for you," Casey replies dryly.

Derek is disappointed, he wanted more of a reaction.

"Must be because you haven't had any dates lately, doesn't Kluzilla only come out when one of her boy toys are around?" he smirks at her.

A spark ignites in Casey's eyes and she leans close to Derek, tongue darting out slightly over her bottom lip before replying.

"You're absolutely right Derek," she says, maintaining eye contact with him, "there were absolutely no cute guys in the audience to distract me."

"Spacey, I'm as distractingly handsome as they come, you batting for the other team now?" Derek mocks.

Casey narrows her eyes and kicks him in the shin.

"Ow!" Derek yells. "What the fu-" he stops mid-sentence as George and Nora turn to glare at him. Casey stifles a laugh and Derek sticks out his tongue.

Nora nudges George and he sighs.

"Alright, Casey, Derek, I need your attention for a second."

Derek groans, whenever his dad uses that tone of voice it means Derek isn't going to like whatever it is that his dad has to say.

"So, Derek, I don't know if you were aware, but Dennis has decided to not help pay for Casey's schooling anymore."

"What the fuck? Why?" Derek blurts out.

Casey looks down guiltily and whispers, "because I didn't choose the pre-law track."

"That's a stupid reason to stop paying," Derek declares, leaning back in his chair.

"Nora and I agree, but that doesn't change the fact that we're getting less help monetarily so we're going to have to make some adjustments. Do you want to tell them, Nora?" George pleadingly asks his wife.

Nora sighs, "alright, we've decided it's more cost-effective to have the both of you share an apartment so, starting next semester, you'll be moving out of your dorms."

"Are you serious, Mom?" Casey explodes. "I'll never be able to get any studying done with him around, he'll hit on my friends, he'll never clean up after himself…need I go on?"

George sighs tiredly, "you both managed to live in the same house for nearly four years without killing each other and you can do it again."  
"Came pretty close though," Derek grumbles, but it's just for show. He's actually ecstatic, he'll have a place to throw parties _and_ he'll easily be able to prank Casey whenever he wants. It really doesn't get much better than that.

"I'm sure you'll find a way to manage," Nora says unsympathetically.

Casey sighs, "so what's the plan, do you already have an apartment picked out?"

"Keener," Derek coughs.

"We do," George says, ignoring his son, "it's about ten minutes away from campus so you'll have to share the Prince." He looks pointedly at Derek. "When you two come home for Christmas break, we'll pick out some furniture then move it back to your apartment once break is over."

"Hell yeah! New stuff!" Derek cheers.

"Hey," Edwin whines, "that's not fair, I want new stuff for my room too!"

"Don't get too excited, Derek," Nora says. "The only new items will be for the living room and dining room, and maybe some kitchen items. The rest will be from your rooms back home."

Derek pouts then asks, "does that mean I can take my chair?"

"No," Casey protests. "I don't want that ratty thing in my living room!"

"It's _our_ living room, Princess, so suck it up!" Derek smirks at her.

"If you both can compromise and be nice to each other, we might get you a TV," George bribes.

Both Casey and Derek instantly shut up.

"That's what I thought," George laughs.

xxxx

The end of the semester comes faster than Derek anticipated and all too soon he finds himself back in the Prince with Casey heading home.

"You should let me drive," Casey whines. "You drive too recklessly in the snow!"

"No way, Spacecase," Derek retorts. "If I let you drive, it will take us five years to get home instead of five hours."

Casey crosses her arms and huffs, leaning back into the passenger seat.  
"I swear to god, Derek, if I die because of your shitty driving I'll come back and haunt you for the rest of your life."

Derek shudders dramatically then starts the engine, the Prince roaring to life. He turns on the radio to his favorite metal station and Casey immediately switches it over to Christmas music.

"Fuck no!" Derek shouts, trying to remove Casey's hand that is blocking the dial.

"Der-ek, I want Christmas music," Casey pleads.

"Tough," Derek smirks as he successfully changes the station back.

Casey doesn't respond but calmly starts collecting Derek's CD cases and, once she has a large stack resting in her lap, she rolls down the window.

"What are you doing?" Derek asks.

Casey smiles at him evilly, "I'm going to toss theses out the window, that way we both won't have music we like."

"You wouldn't," Derek scoffs.  
"Try me," Casey's lip twitches and her eyes are laced with a challenge and she's so goddamn sexy- wait, what?

Derek gulps, where the fuck did that thought fucking come from? Internally panicking at his traitorous mind, that's definitely only thinking that his step-sister is semi-attractive because he hasn't been laid in a while, he stays silent.

Casey holds the CDs up to the open window and stares at Derek, "3…2…1…"

"Fine," Derek says weakly, "listen to your shitty Christmas music."

He turns the dial back to the station Casey had on before, cringing at the overplayed tunes blaring from his speakers.

Casey grins at him victoriously, cheeks and nose bright red from the cold air.

"Roll up the damn window, Case, it's freezing." He snaps.

Still grinning, Casey rolls up the window and pats the stack of CDs still sitting on her lap.

"You're safe for now," she mock whispers.

"You're insane, you know that, right?" Derek stares at her.

Casey shrugs and pulls a blanket out of her bag.

"Keep your eyes on the road, Venturi," Casey orders as she tucks the blanket around herself.

"Yes ma'am," Derek salutes.

Casey turns the volume up on the radio and starts singing along to all of the classics; even Derek hums along to a few.

They stop at a gas station about two hours into the drive and Casey hops out to use the restroom, stomping through the snow. She returns after Derek is done pumping the gas and hands him a hot chocolate.

"Tis the season," she says cheerfully.

Derek rolls his eyes, "I'll never understand you chicks and your love for this dumb holiday."

Casey sticks her tongue out at Derek and he smirks, taking a sip of his drink.

xxxx

"I'm so glad you two are home," Nora exclaims as they walk through the door. "You're just in time for decorating."

"That's a hard no from me," Derek replies as he tries to sneak up the stairs.

"Nooo, Smerek, you have to help," Marti pouts.

"Ugh, fine. I hope you McDonald women are happy, turning my own Marti against me," he points accusingly at Nora and Casey.

"Happy holidays, you Grinch," Lizzie sings as she drapes tinsel over Derek's head.

The Venturi-McDonald clan spend the rest of the night doing Christmas-related activities: Casey and Lizzie bake cookies and shoo the boys away when they try to steal the dough; Marti makes new ornaments for the tree; Edwin and Derek take direction from Nora on decoration placement; and George excuses himself to the basement to wrap presents. Casey feels a surge of affection for their patchwork family and sighs contently; she hasn't felt this happy in a while.

_*Ding_*

The oven timer goes off and Lizzie pulls the cookies out, grinning.

"Alright you heathens," Lizzie hollers. "Cookies are ready!"

Edwin and Derek race in first, immediately cramming cookies into their mouths. Casey wrinkles her nose in disgust and passes out plate to the rest of her more…civilized family.

They filter out into the living room and settle down on the couch. Nora turns on the TV to the Hallmark Channel and "It's A Wonderful Life" is showing.

Derek groans, "Please, enough Christmas already!"

Casey glares at Derek then turns to her mom.

"Please don't change it, Mom. Derek is just being a jerk because he knows it's my favorite." Casey begs.

"You sound cranky, Princess. Maybe you should have more cookies," Derek references the solitary cookie on Casey's plate.

"I don't need more cookies; I need you to at least pretend to be in the holiday spirit!" Casey argues.

Nora raises her hand, "Please, no more fighting you two. Derek, if you watch the movie without complaint, we won't subject you to anymore holiday "torture" until the week of, ok?"

"Deal," Derek agrees.

"Scrooge," Casey coughs.

Breathing a sigh of relief that her bargain was accepted, Nora pushes play.

xxxx

"_Strange, isn't it. Each man's life touches so many other lives. When he isn't around, he leaves an awful hole, doesn't he?"_

Derek hears a sniffle to his left and looks over at Casey. Marti is cuddled up against her, asleep, and Lizzie has reached out to tightly hold Casey's hand. His dad and Nora seem oblivious, per usual, to Casey's silent tears and, as he goes to say something, Lizzie sees him and shakes her head no.

Shrugging, he returns his attention back to the screen.

A few minutes later, Derek's phone buzzes and he looks down.

Sam: "Hey man, you back in town?"

Derek: "Yeah, just got in today."

Sam: "Cool, wanna hang tomorrow?"

Derek: "Sure, time?"

Sam: "2pm good?"

Derek: "Yup, see ya."

The movie credits begin to roll, signaling the end of the movie. Derek watches as Casey carefully shifts Marti over so she can get up, then carefully lifts Marti into her arms, straining slightly as she heads to the stairs.

Derek gets off the couch and stops Casey.

"I can take her from here," he offers.

Casey nods gratefully and starts to transfer Marti into Derek's arms when Marti stirs slightly.

"Nooo, I want Casey to tuck me in too, Smerek," she mumbles.

Casey smooths down Marti's ruffled hair and kisses the top of her head.

"Don't worry, Marti, I'm coming too. Derek is just carrying you up, ok?"

Marti nods sleepily and snuggles closer to Derek.

The trio make their way up the stairs and into Marti's room. Derek tucks Marti into bed and Casey makes sure all of Marti's favorite stuffed animals are lined up next to her before slipping quietly out of the room. Looking back, she sees Derek speaking softly to his sister. Smiling at them, Casey then exits the scene.


	14. Chapter 14

Casey's alarm goes off at 5am and she hurries to shut it off, not wanting to disturb her siblings' sleep. Yawning heavily, she swings her legs down and shudders as the coldness of the floor seeps into her bones. Bare feet padding towards her closet, she selects a pair of joggers and shrugs on Derek's sweater. Casey does a bit of preliminary stretching then heads down the stairs.

After lacing up her sneakers, Casey steps out of the house and into a winter wonderland. She takes a deep breath, relishing the cold December air filling her lungs, and surveys her surroundings. More snow had fallen last night and had remained mostly untouched due to the early hour. It's why Casey loves waking up early. She gets the chance to just…breathe before the chaos that is her life inevitably hits.

Taking one more appreciative look around her, Casey put her headphones over her ears and starts to run.

xxxx

Casey takes a longer route than usual and approaches home around 7am. She feels good, a little winded, but good.

As she approaches her driveway, Casey hears a voice call her name.

"Casey!" Emily calls, jogging towards her, motioning for her to wait.

Casey sighs. It's not that she doesn't want to see Emily, it's just that ever since Emily and Derek broke up, things had been weird between them and they had drifted apart.

"Hey, Em," Casey smiles as her friend reaches her.

"Hey! I'm happy I caught you!" Emily grins, panting slightly from exertion. "I was planning on going to the mall this afternoon, do you want to come with?"

"Sure," Casey shrugs. "As long as Lizzie can come too."

"That's totally fine," Emily agrees, then pauses. "Are you wearing Derek's sweater?"

Casey internally groans. Of course Derek's resident stalker would know she was wearing Derek's goddamn sweater, she's only been obsessed with him since forever.

"I don't know, maybe? I found it in the living room," Casey tries to say nonchalantly.

Emily gives her a strange look in response, Casey's never been good at being breezy.

"O-kay," Emily drawls, "I say we leave around two? We can take my car."

"Sounds good, see you then," Casey waves and heads to her front door.

"Bye!" Emily shouts from behind her.

xxxx

Derek groans as the sound of the front door slamming jolts him awake. Rolling to his side, Derek looks at his alarm clock. 7:30am. He frowns, who could be coming in? His dad and Nora wouldn't be up until 8am, Casey was always back from her run around 6:30am, and there was absolutely no way his younger siblings were up yet.

Shoving his covers to the side, Derek gets up and grabs his old hockey stick from his closet. Gripping it firmly, he creeps down the stairs. There's a light on in the kitchen and he silently plods in, stopping short when he sees who it is. Casey. Casey in his damn sweater. She wears it to every one of his practices but it's a million times easier to ignore it when he's on the rink versus when he's standing outside of his kitchen.

Leaning against the wall, Derek clears his throat, smirking when Casey turns towards him with a face full of panic.

"Der-ek! You nearly gave me a heart attack, you jerk!" She whispers loudly, giving Derek the evil eye.

"Good morning to you too, Princess," Derek laughs.

"What are you doing with that?" Casey asks, gesturing to the object in his hand.

"Huh?" Derek looks down at his hockey stick, "oh, nothing. Heard the front door open and thought someone had broken in."

"Gotcha." Casey hesitates, "do you…do you want some breakfast?"

"Sure," Derek nods. "I'm up anyway."

Casey grabs an extra plate and splits the eggs she had cooked between them. Derek grabs two forks from the drawer and Casey brings the plates to the table.

"You want orange juice?" Derek asks, head in the refrigerator, taking a sip straight from the jug.

"Ewww, Derek. Use a cup!" Casey hisses.

"So, yes?" Derek asks, wiping his mouth with his sleeve.

"Yeah, sure," Casey sighs.

"Don't say I never do anything for you," he says as he sets the glasses down onto the table dramatically, slumping down into his seat.

"I'm the one who actually _made_ breakfast," Casey points out.

"And I made the orange juice, equally as hard," Derek refutes.

Casey lets out an exasperated sigh and takes a bite of her eggs.

"I don't know why you wake up so early, Spacey, it's like willingly putting yourself through torture," Derek says through a yawn.

Casey rolls her eyes, "I would hardly call waking up after 7:30am torture, Der."

"That's because you're crazy," Derek says with a mouth full of food.

"You're disgusting," Casey snaps, "can you please eat in a civilized manner?"

"If I'm so 'disgusting,'" Derek air quotes, "why am I so irresistible to the ladies?"

Casey wrinkles her nose and scoffs, "you _would _think that."

"Just because I'm incorrigible, doesn't mean I'm irresistible," he grins, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Oooh, big word, Venturi. Did you borrow Edwin's English homework?" Casey mocks.

Derek opens his mouth to respond when Lizzie enter the kitchen, rubbing her eyes sleepily.

"I knew I heard bickering," she grumbles, making a beeline for the coffee maker.

"Sorry Liz," Casey looks at her sister apologetically, "did we wake you?"

"What is this 'we' you speak of? You were the one being loud," Derek smirks.

"No, you didn't wake me up, no worries," Lizzie responds to Casey, ignoring her step-brother.

"Getting up early without reason, what is wrong with you McDonalds?" Derek fake gasps.

"We can't all be perfect like you, Derek," Lizzie teases.

"Damn right," Derek states, taking a huge bite of his eggs.

"Well," Casey stands up, "as enlightening as this conversation has been, I need to go shower. Liz, we're going to the mall with Emily this afternoon, that ok?"

Lizzie nods, "Sounds good."

Casey puts her dishes in the sink and ruffles Lizzie's hair affectionately before heading out of the kitchen.

Lizzie brings her coffee over to the table and plops down next to Derek.

"What's up, kiddo?" Derek asks.

"Tired," she replies, then looks at Derek before asking, "is Casey ok?"

"You just saw her, Casey's fine," Derek responds.

"No, that's not what I mean," Lizzie peers earnestly at Derek. "She seems…sad. Like I know she's being cheery, but she doesn't seem like herself."

"It's not my fault," Derek sputters, choking slightly on his orange juice, a guilty feeling settling in his gut, "if that's what you're implying."

"I'm not," Lizzie frowns, "I just haven't seen her this down since…in a while."

"Why was she crying during the movie?" Derek asks before he can stop himself.

"Um, it's," Lizzie sighs, "if I tell you, you can't _ever_ bring it up to Casey or tease her or any of that shit, ok?"

Derek nods.

"Alright, so um, like a year or two before we moved in, back when my mom and dad were getting divorced, Casey was living with my dad and I was living with my mom," Lizzie starts to explain.

"Why?" Derek questions.

"I don't know," Lizzie shrugs, "I think it had something to do with her wanting to finish the school year out at the same school."

"So, she's always been a keener," Derek laughs.

"Stop interrupting me," Lizzie glares.

"Ok, ok," Derek holds up his hands, "continue."

Lizzie takes a deep breath, "so anyway, right before Christmas break, Casey failed a test. From what I've heard, it wasn't even an important one, but my dad was being super…shitty about it and putting a lot of pressure on her," Lizzie sniffs and her eyes begin to water. "So um, she, my mom…" Lizzie looks away from Derek, "my mom got a call in the middle of the night. I didn't know why we were driving back to my dad's, but I was mad because I was tired." Lizzie sniffles and Derek looks at her half in horror, not wanting to hear where the rest of the story is going.

Lizzie wipes her eyes and takes a shaky breath, "so we uh, ended up at the hospital and Casey looked…awful. I don't remember exactly what happened, but I just remember my mom screaming at my dad on the phone for not coming and the doctors telling my mom that Casey tried, that Casey tried to kill herself."

Derek chokes, "she what?!"

"I can't say it again," Lizzie shakes her head and Derek stares at her in disbelief. "So anyway, my mom ended up getting full custody and we took Casey home. She was super sad and nonresponsive and we couldn't…reach her," Lizzie looks down at her hands, "but then, uh, then Mom put on 'It's a Wonderful Life' to try and get us into the Christmas spirit," Lizzie looks back up at Derek, "and Casey just started sobbing. I think she thought that no one would miss her if she was gone. She's been fine since then. High-strung, sure, but fine. I just don't ever want to see her like that again." Lizzie stares hard at Derek. "Watch out for her, ok?"

Derek nods mutely.

Lizzie gets up and dumps her now-cold coffee into the sink, leaving Derek alone with his thoughts.

xxxx

"I'm so excited to hangout today!" Emily squeals as Casey and Lizzie pile into her car. "I have so much shopping to do!"

Casey laughs, "I'm happy we're hanging out too, Em."

Casey smiles genuinely at her friend; despite the distance, she did miss Emily.

"Did mom give you enough money to buy presents?" Casey turns around to look at Lizzie in the backseat.

"Yeah," Lizzie mumbles, looking guilty.

Casey frowns but doesn't ask; years of experience has taught her that her sister will come to her when she's ready.

Emily pulls into the parking lot and the girls enter the mall. Swarms of people bustle in and out of the shops, all carrying a multitude of bags.

Casey groans at crowded it is and Emily swats at her good-naturedly.

"Don't be such a Grinch, Casey." She teases.

Casey dramatically rolls her eyes then smiles. The mall _does_ look festive; the brightly decorated tree towers above the shoppers, greens and reds are tastefully placed on every surface, and lights twinkle above. A wide grin breaks out across her face and Casey feels her mood lift as she takes in her surroundings, she really loves the Christmas season.

The girls take their time, weaving in and out of the shops alongside the rest of the last minute buyers. Casey gets a reindeer plushie for Marti, a new copy of Babe Rider for Edwin (she has a feeling that Derek took the original back to uni after Edwin bragged about beating his top score), new soccer cleats for Lizzie, and a money clip for George. Emily drags them into a sports store and heads to the hockey section, picking up a Leaf's jersey.

"Would it be weird for me to get this for Derek? I know we broke up but…"

"Yes. It would be weird," Casey says curtly. She doesn't know why she's so upset with the thought of Emily getting Derek a present but writes it off as annoyance with her friend's never-ending obsession with the step-brother she most definitely hates.

"Eh, you're right," Emily shrugs as she puts the jersey back, nonplussed by her friend's tone. "What did you get Derek?"

Casey pats one of her bags, "Socks."

"What? Why?" Emily looks at Casey like she's grown two heads.

"It's their tradition," Lizzie interjects. "They always get each other the stupidest shit because, god forbid, they show any semblance of caring."

Emily laughs but Casey stares at her sister, not missing the sly glint in Lizzie's eyes.

"Well," Casey clears her throat, "I have to go into the bookstore and get my mom a gift."

"Please, no more stores, I'm so tired," Lizzie whines.

Emily shakes her head in agreement, looking down at her shoes.

"Mistakes were made, these boots were _not_ made for walking." Emily complains.

"There's a bench outside the store you can use," Casey offers.

"Alight, that's fine," Lizzie concedes.

Casey sends her sister a grateful smile and they begin walking again.

xxxx

"Sorry I'm late, man," Derek apologizes as Same hops in the Prince.

"No worries, dude, I just woke up like, thirty minutes ago," Sam says.

Derek grins. This is why he likes Sam; he's just as laid back as Derek.

"Where do you want to go?" Derek asks once Sam has buckled up.

"I need to go to the mall, I may have forgot to buy my family presents," Sam sheepishly smiles.

"Ah, fuck. I did too. Let's get this shit over with," Derek groans.

They make it to the mall and both sigh in despair when they see how crowded it is. Scowling at the sight of all the Christmas décor, Derek squares his shoulders and makes his way through the swarm of people.

Sam finds his parents' presents fairly quickly and Derek immediately finds his younger siblings' gifts: a coloring book as well as an obscene amount of candy for Marti, an Xbox live pass for Edwin, and a new soccer ball for Lizzie.

"Alright," Derek sighs, "now I just have to find a gift for my dad and Nora, then we can get out of this hellhole."

"What did you get Casey?" Sam asks curiously.

"Socks," Derek answers simply.

"Socks?" Sam repeats. "Why?"

"Tradition I guess," Derek shrugs.

Sam rolls his eyes, "Leave it to you guys to be in denial and refuse to show one ounce of appreciation for each other."

Derek frowns, "what is that supposed to mean?"

"What I mean," Sam explains patiently, "is that you two obviously ca – "

"OMG! Derek! Sam!" A high-pitched voice shrieks.

Derek lets out a heavy sigh. There's only one person he knows who uses 'OMG' unironically and he's _really_ not in the mood to see her.

"Hi Kendra," Sam smiles kindly at Derek's ex.

"It's so good to see you guys!" Kendra gushes. "Are you guys Christmas shopping too?"

"Yup. Almost done." Derek says shortly, hoping she'll take a hint.

Unsurprisingly, she does not.

"Great!" She exclaims, clapping her hands. "I'll come with. But only if you don't mind," she adds, turning her big doe eyes upwards and batting her eyelashes at the boys.

"We don't mind," Sam replies. "Right, Derek?"

"Right," Derek grumbles, glaring at Sam's obvious enjoyment of his misery.

"Cool," Kendra smiles, "so where to next?"

"Bookstore," Derek begrudgingly replies.

Sam and Kendra chat as they walk through the mall and Derek continues to get more and more annoyed. Why is Sam intent on torturing him?

"OMG!" Kendra's squeal pierces the air once again. "Emily! I haven't seen you in forever!"

Derek's spine stiffens, two exes in one day, what did he do to deserve this?

As the trio approach Emily, Derek sees Lizzie sitting on a nearby bench. He scans the area for Casey and breathes a sigh of relief when he doesn't see her.

While Emily and Kendra are busy catching up, Derek takes advantage of the opportunity to slip into the bookstore unnoticed. Going up to the help desk, he approaches as stodgy, bored looking kid and asks where the cookbooks are. Seemingly relieved at the chance to leave his post, the kid straightens his crooked glasses and leads Derek to the correct section.

"Who are you buying for?" The kid asks.

"My step-mom. I'm honestly not sure what she would even like," Derek admits.

"You should get her Anthony Bourdain's cookbook. He's a really cool chef who's travelled everywhere and relays some of those stories with the corresponding recipes," the kid says excitedly, pulling the book from the shelf and handing it to Derek.

"Thanks," Derek peeks at his name tag, "Patrick. I think my step-mom will love it."

Patrick nods and starts walking slowly back to the help desk.

Derek heads to the register when a Christmas stand catches his eye. It has all sorts of holiday paraphernalia on it, including a red journal with the words, '_It's a Wonderful Life_' written in white across the front. Before he can even think about it, he's walking away from the registers with both the cookbook and the journal in a bag. Derek's phone dings and he looks down to read the text from Sam when he runs into something solid.

"Ow," a voice cries out in pain.

"Shit, sorry," Derek pockets his phone and looks down. "Casey?"

"Ever learn how to look where you're going?" Casey asks snidely as he watches her get up.

"Ever learn how to walk, Kluztilla?" He retorts.

"What are you even doing here? I thought bookstores scare away the illiterate," Casey snaps at him.

"The only thing that scares me away from anything is your face, dear sister," Derek sneers as they walk together towards the exit.

"I'm not your sister, you pig," she bites out venomously.

"Well thank god for that," Derek states, "I don't need people to think I share DNA with an alien species."

"Der-_ek_!" Casey shrieks, "you're such a – "

"Wow," Emily laughs, "some things really never change."

Casey flushes as she realizes they now have an audience and Derek grins triumphantly.

"Hey Sam…Kendra. What are you guys doing here?" Casey asks stiffly.

"I ran into Derek and Sam while they were Christmas shopping and then we bumped into Emily! Isn't that great?" Kendra asks enthusiastically.

"Mhm, great," Casey nods sarcastically.

Oblivious to Casey's thinly veiled annoyance, Kendra surges forward.

"We were all talking about catching up at Smelly Nelly's, would you like to come?" Kendra offers.

"Um, I'd rather…" Casey starts to decline when Emily interjects.

"You can't say no; you drove with me!" Emily reminds her.

Sighing, Casey turns towards Lizzie.

"Is this ok with you?" she asks.

Lizzie looks up from her phone and shrugs.

"Sure, I don't mind," she answers.

"Yay!" Kendra beams, hooking her arm around Derek's and leaning close, "I'll ride with the boys and we'll meet you there!"

Casey's eye twitches at Kendra's close proximity to Derek and replies dryly, "omg, can't wait."

Lizzie snickers behind her.

xxxx

"So, I got rushed into the sorority, right? And like, the initiation was soooo funny, we had to…"

Derek tunes out Kendra's continuous babbling and tries to shift away from her. Kendra had made sure she got the seat right next to Derek and was quickly reminding of him of why they broke up in the first place; she has absolutely no respect for his 'no PDA' rule. After he's scooted as far away as possible, Derek groans, resigning himself to his fate.

"You alright, Der?" Kendra asks, concerned.

"Yeah, _Der_," Casey chimes in, voice patronizingly sweet. "you doing ok? You seem a little…on edge." She smirks, noting how Derek as moved as close to the edge of the booth as possible to get away from his ex-girlfriend.

"You girls are too kind," he slings his arm over Kendra's shoulders, smirking back at Casey in defiance, "I'm just tired from shopping for the family."

"You're so unbelievably generous, Derek," Kendra coos.

Casey almost gags.

"You're unbelievable alright. Excuse me," she gets up and heads to the restroom, Lizzie watching as she goes.

"Hey, Derek," Lizzie says.

"What's up?" Derek asks.

"My mom is going to want us home soon, apparently they made plans for the family. Can you take me and Casey home?" she questions.

Derek frowns, "didn't Emily…"

"It would be one stop for all of us if we just went together," Lizzie insists, interrupting her step-brother.

"Uh…is that ok with you, Emily?" Derek asks confusedly.

"Sure, if Sam and Kendra don't mind," Emily agrees.

Sam nods his head in agreement but Kendra pouts.

"I was really hoping to catch up with you more." Kendra whines, then hastily adds, "but I guess we can catch up later" when she sees Lizzie glaring daggers at her.

"What did I miss?" Casey asks as she sits back down.

"Derek is taking us home; Mom wants us back." Lizzie explains.

"Oh, well it was good to see you all," Casey smiles. "Being as generous as you are, you'll get the check, right Der? We'll be outside."

Derek's mouth gapes open in disbelief as Casey drags Lizzie out of the restaurant. The move she just pulled was something only he would do, so he can't help but laugh.

"You feeling alight man?" Sam looks at Derek curiously.

"Yeah," Derek smiles. "I'm good."

xxxx

Derek hates stifling silence, and the car ride home is just that, silent. Lizzie is texting away furiously in the backseat and Casey is leaning her head against the window, frowning.

Derek drums his fingers on the steering wheel before flipping the radio on. Metal music fills the car, but Casey doesn't take the bait and simply closes her eyes.

"Turn that trash off, Derek," Lizzie whines.

"Hey, you're the one who needed a ride, kiddo, suck it up," he replies.

Lizzie sticks out her tongue and glares.

"Fine," Derek grumbles, switching the station to pop, "you McDonald women are going to be the death of me."

As soon as Derek pulls the Prince up to the house, Lizzie bolts out of the car without waiting for it to come to a full stop.

"That was weird," Derek comments.

"Yeah," Casey puts her hand on the door handle and pauses. "So, Kendra," she says, not looking at Derek.

"What about her?" he asks.

"Is she going to be a permanent fixture over break?" Casey grimaces, awaiting his response.

"Why, you jealous, Princess?" Derek mocks.

Casey rolls her eyes.

"Of course, you nailed it. I'm sooo jealous that I didn't get rushed into Cappa Apple Pie, that sounded like, totally awesome," Casey imitates Kendra's high-pitched voice and Derek nearly doubles over laughing.

"Ok, you've got me there, Spacey. Definitely no more Kendra this winter." He wipes the tears of laughter from his eyes.

"Good," Casey says resolutely, then hops out of the car.

Nora and Lizzie are talking in hushed tones when Derek and Casey walk through the door and go silent as the step-siblings enter the living room.

"What's going on, Mom?" Casey asks cautiously.

"Oh, nothing, just talking about plans for tonight," Nora's words come out too fast and Casey looks at her mom suspiciously.

"What plans?" Casey questions.

"We're going to Zoo Lights…as a family," Nora states, directing her last comment towards Derek.

Casey lights up, "I haven't been to Zoo Lights in forever! This is going to be so great!"

Derek smiles at her excitement, then stops when he catches Lizzie staring at him.

Shrugging, Derek excuses himself and heads up the stairs.

"Be ready by six," Nora calls out behind him.

xxxx

Casey fusses over her outfit in front of the mirror. It's simple enough but, as always, she wants everything to be perfect. She has on black leggings, fuzzy black boots, a red turtleneck, and a knee-length black coat. Casey frowns; something is missing.

"Casey, are you ready to go?" Her mom calls.

"Yeah, coming," Casey shouts back.

Taking one last look at her reflection, Casey grabs a necklace from her desk and clasps it on.

There, perfect.

Smiling, Casey heads down the stairs.

"Jesus, Case, take long enough?" Derek complains, tugging on the single braid running down Casey's back.

She swats his hand away.

"I worked hard on that, jerk," Casey snaps.

"Then why does it look like a kindergartner did it for you?" Derek teases, tugging on her braid again.

"Do you two ever shut up? You bicker like an old married couple," Edwin grumbles.

Both Derek and Casey turn bright red and Derek promptly lets go of Casey's hair, the braid hitting her back with a 'thump.'

"You kids ready to go?" George asks, oblivious to the uneasy tension between the two eldest children.

"Yes!" Casey exclaims, lighting up once again.

Derek sighs, "I guess."

Ignoring his son's pessimism, George herds the kids to the car, excitement rivaling Casey's.

Doing her best to avoid Derek, Casey clamors into the backseat, sandwiched between Edwin and the window. Marti and Derek take their places in the middle row and Lizzie looks at Edwin before shaking her head in disappointment and takes a seat next to Marti. Casey's surprised, Lizzie and Edwin always sit next to each other, did they get into a fight?

George starts the engine and Nora turns on Christmas music, getting a cheer from Marti.

"Nora," Derek whines, "you promised I wouldn't have to put up with any holiday torture until Christmas week!"

"I don't count Christmas music as torture," Nora grins slyly.

"You're evil," Derek grunts.

Nora just laughs and turns the music up.

Lizzie, Marti, George, and Nora start singing along to 'White Christmas' and Derek groans, leaning his head against the window.

Casey turns towards Edwin, who's glumly resting his head in his hands, and jostles him softly.

"Hey Ed," she says quietly, "what's up?"

Edwin heaves a sigh, "Lizzie won't talk to me."

"I've noticed," Casey comments. "What happened?"

"Ugh, I was, I was mean," Edwin answers in a hushed tone.

xxxx

Derek rests his head against the car window and sighs, trying to drown out the family's rendition of whatever stupid Christmas song is currently playing. Sighing from boredom, Derek's ears perk up at the sound of a conversation in the backseat.

"Hey Ed, what's up?" Casey asks quietly.

Edwin lets out a large sigh and answers, "Lizzie won't talk to me."

"I've noticed, what happened?" She questions.

This is why Edwin probably goes to Casey for advice, Derek thinks, he isn't as observant…or patient.

"Ugh. I was, I was mean," Edwin says lowly.

"How so?" Casey gently prompts.

"Lizzie was pressuring me to talk to Lisa and stop being a," Edwin's voice drops lower, "a coward. She said we both obviously like each other so I should get it over with. I said some mean things about her lack of a dating life and now here we are."

Derek chuckles to himself, poor Edwin, pressure from any McDonald family member is bound to be hard to deal with.

"She shouldn't have pressured you to do something you're not ready for," Derek is surprised by Casey's answer, wouldn't she take Lizzie's side? "But," ah, there it is, "don't let it eat at you, ok? You have to be willing to either tell her how you feel, or be content to be just a friend, even if she starts dating someone else."

Derek frowns, what kind of advice is that?

"Yeah, you're right, thanks Casey." Edwin says, contemplating his step-sister's words.

"Any time," Casey promises.

xxxx

"Alright, I know it's unrealistic for us all to stay together, so we're going to pair you off," Nora says, turning to look at the kids in the backseat as George parks the car. "Edwin is with Casey, Lizzie with Derek, and Marti will go with us."

"I don't need a babysitter," Edwin whines, looking like a carbon copy of his older brother, arms crossed resolutely over his chest.

"Yeah, me neither," Lizzie agrees, forgetting that she's mad at Edwin.

"I want to be with Smerek!" Marti yells.

She knows it's not personal, but Casey can't help but feel a bit rejected.

Nora rubs her temple tiredly.

"Alright," she concedes, "Lizzie and Edwin can go together, Derek and Casey will take Marti."

"No! I don't want to get stuck with Spacecase! She'll probably fall into some wild animal's enclosure and I'll be framed for her death," Derek protests. "Plus, she'll take forever to look at everything."

"It's ok, Mom, I can go by myself," Casey offers.

"No," Nora says firmly, "if Marti isn't going with us, I want at least two of you with her. Besides, didn't you take your camera to take pictures, Derek?"

"Yeah," Derek sighs.

"Well then, this will make it easier for you. Let's go," Nora's word is final.

xxxx

The kids pile out of the car, Casey the last one out. She trips and almost takes both herself and Derek to the ground, but Derek catches her arm just in time.

"Trying to kill me already, Klutzilla?" Derek sneers as he removes his hand from her forearm.

"Anything to get away from you, brother dearest," Casey replies, mimicking his words from earlier.

"_Step_-brother," he mutters.

Pretending not to hear him, Casey goes up to Marti and holds her hand. Derek pulls his camera out of his carrier bag and starts to adjust the settings as the group walks to the ticket booth.

George smiling at Nora, hand on the small of her back as they pay for the tickets.

_Click._

Edwin and Lizzie in the middle of what appears to be a heated argument.

_Click._

Marti, holding Casey's hand and looking up at her big step-sister with pure adoration.

Derek hesitates.

_Click._

xxxx

Casey is enraptured by how beautiful the zoo is. The colorful lights shine brightly against the dark of the night and it's almost magical enough to block out Derek's incessant complaining. Almost.

"I want to see the elephants!" Marti yells excitedly.

"Me too!" Casey exclaims. "Ready, Derek?"

Derek groans and Marti's face falls.

Casey crouches down to Marti's eye level and smiles at her, whispering conspiratorially, "Derek is just cranky because he wants a hot chocolate. Do you see that cart over there?"

Marti nods, eyes fixated on the man selling drinks and food.

"Do you think you can go buy a hot chocolate for you and Derek?" Casey asks, handing Marti money from her purse.

"Yeah!" Marti grabs the money and skips over to the vendor.

Still keeping a watchful eye on Marti, Casey walks over to Derek and jabs his chest.

"Look, you can be a jerk to me all you want, I don't care. But Marti is excited to be here and doesn't deserve her Christmas spirit to get squashed because you've decided to be Ebenezer Scrooge, ok?" Casey fiercely demands.

Derek looks at Marti, who's chatting happily with the vendor, and sighs.

"Alright," Derek yields, "hold my camera?"

Casey obliges and slings his camera across her chest as Marti runs over to Derek, a Styrofoam cup in each hand.

"Here, Smerek," Marti holds up a cup to her brother, "I got you a hot chocolate!"

"Thanks, Smarti!" Derek grins, "this is exactly what I needed."

Marti smiles brightly, then turns to Casey, a solemn look crossing her face.

"I'm sorry I didn't get you one, Casey, I couldn't carry three," she says sadly.

"That's ok, Marti, I don't need one," Casey reassures her.

Marti smiles in relief and reaches out to tug on Derek's hand.

"Ready to go see the elephants, Smerek?"

"Heck yeah I am! Let's go!"

Casey smiles as she watches Derek and Marti race ahead. Marti complains that she can't see once they reach the enclosure and Derek puts down his hot chocolate to situate Marti on his shoulders. Casey, who had been subtly taking pictures of the two with Derek's camera, caught the picture while Derek had Marti mid-swing. She pulls up the picture and looks at it fondly; it's very cute and she hopes that he'll keep it.

"Would you three like a picture together?" A voice next to Casey asks.

Casey looks up from the camera and sees a kindly, older woman smiling at her.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Casey asks politely, noticing Derek walking over with Marti still on his shoulders.

"I was asking if you all would like a picture together," the woman repeats.

"Oh," Casey responds, "no, that's o – "

"I want a picture!" Marti interrupts.

Casey looks questioningly at Derek and he just nods.

"Whatever my Smarti wants," he says.

Casey hands over the camera and stands next to Derek, smiling at how happy Marti looks.

_Click._

"Here you go," the woman hands the camera back to Casey. "I think it's great, but take a look, I'll take another if you don't like it."

Casey pulls the photo up and tilts the screen up so Derek can see as well.

Derek and Marti are grinning brightly in the photo and Casey is close to Derek, hand resting lightly on his arm as she smiles up at Marti.

"It's uh, it's fine, we don't need another," Derek coughs.

"Thanks for taking the picture," Casey says, elbowing Derek.

"Ow! Uh yeah, thank you," Derek says sheepishly.

"It was my pleasure, you two are such a cute couple. Happy holidays!" The older woman waves and walks away, oblivious to the two teens staring after her in shock.

xxxx

Derek leans back in his desk chair and cracks his knuckles. He just finished uploading the pictures from last week's trip to the zoo and now has to sift through them all.

There's a couple good shots he took of his dad and Nora, and he figures he'll give them a copy for Christmas; there's one of Lizzie doubled over from laughter as Edwin attempts to wipe llama spit from his face, Derek will _definitely_ give both of them a copy of that; and then there are the pictures of Casey. He ends up narrowing them down to three; the one with Marti looking up at Casey, the one with all three of them that lady took, and then there's a solitary picture of Casey that she wasn't aware of. It's shot from the side and her head is tilted up towards the falling snow. Her braid spills messily down her back, slightly undone, and her face looks peaceful. It was the perfect photo opportunity and Derek would have taken it of anyone, or so he's telling himself.

Derek decides to give her a copy of the one with her and Marti. He goes to delete the other two but can't bring himself to do it. Staring at the one of him, Marti, and Casey, Derek's face goes involuntarily red as he recalls the older woman's words. Shutting down his computer, and his thoughts, Derek heads downstairs to watch TV.

xxxx

"I can't keep watching hockey re-runs, why did you have to take Babe Rider," Edwin complains to Derek.

"I don't know what you're talking about, brat," Derek denies.

"Why are you such an asshole?!" Edwin yells.

Casey sighs as they continue to argue, she figured that Derek had taken the game but wasn't expecting Edwin to call him out on it. She tries to turn her attention back to her book, but the boys' bickering has escalated to shouting, making it impossible to focus. Sighing again, Casey snaps her book shut.

"What's going on with them?" Lizzie asks as she enters the kitchen.

"Edwin finally called Derek out on taking Babe Rider," Casey explains tiredly.

"Wow," Lizzie snorts, filling a glass with water, "did Edwin finally take my advice and grow a pair?"

"Lizzie!" Casey admonishes.

"Sorry, _Mom_," Lizzie deadpans, taking a seat next to Casey at the kitchen table. "Whatcha reading?"

"The Belljar," Casey turns the book cover towards her sister.

"Is that the one with the chick who goes insane?" Lizzie asks.

"Pretty much," Casey shrugs. "Why have you been giving Edwin such a hard time?"

"I dunno," Lizzie says, looking guiltily down at her glass. "I guess I'm just tired of people I care about living in denial."  
Casey stares at her sister hard, "what's that supposed to mean, Liz?"

Lizzie looks at her sister cautiously, "I just mean, we _know_ Casey. Maybe not Mom and George, but we know."

"You know what?" Casey asks, voice rising in frequency. "What do you _think_ you know, Lizzie?"

Lizzie can tell when her sister is nearing hysterics and attempts to backpedal.

"It's nothing bad, no one cares, honestly," Lizzie stutters nervously.

"Lizzie, I swear to god, if you don't tell – "

"Casey, Save me from this gremlin!" Derek yells jokingly as he and Edwin bring their fight to the kitchen.

"Save yourself," Casey snaps, pushing her chair out to stand up. "Serves you right."

"What's her problem?" Derek asks Lizzie as they watch Casey walk out.

"I don't know," Lizzie lies, standing up as well. "Come on, Edwin, we need to talk."

Derek watches Lizzie drag Edwin out of the kitchen, more confused than ever. What the fuck is going on with everyone?

xxxx

Casey lays on her bed, staring angrily at the wall separating her room from Derek's. Why would Lizzie insinuate…she wasn't insinuating _that_…right?

"Just one more day until Christmas Eve, two more days until Christmas, five more days until uni," Casey chants to herself. It doesn't make her feel any better. Because in five more days she'll be living with Derek again and that shouldn't fill her with dread and she hates how she _feels_ because why should she? It's not like there's _ever_ been even a hint that he reciprocates…so if everyone knows, then they all know she's a pathetic, disgusting human being who's hopelessly in love with, no – " Casey breaks off her train of thought by screaming into her pillow. Maybe she's going insane.

xxxx

Lizzie drags Edwin up the stairs, pausing by Casey's door briefly when they hear muffled screaming, then pulls Edwin into the game closet, shutting the door behind them.

"What's going on?" Edwin asks.

"I fucked up," Lizzie says nervously, chewing on her nails.

"How?" Edwin looks at Lizzie inquisitively.

"I may have insinuated that we know she likes…" Lizzie trails off.

"Does she know he likes her?" Edwin questions.

"From the way she bolted, I doubt it. I bet she thinks it's one sided. I mean, if she can't even admit that she likes him, do you really think she's going to notice the way he looks like he's going to have a heart attack every time he sees her in his sweater?" Lizzie rambles.

"Fair point," Edwin agrees, "should we run interference?"

"I don't know," Lizzie says tiredly, running her hand through her hair. "Maybe we should leave it for now."

xxxx

Derek survives Christmas Eve, barely. He keeps his word to Nora and doesn't complain about the activities he's forced to do: he cuts out paper snowflakes with Marti, has a snowball fight with Lizzie and Edwin, and helps George and Nora in the kitchen. The only person he hasn't interacted with yet is Casey, but that will come later.

Derek pulls a poorly wrapped package from underneath his bed and frowns, passing it back and forth between his hands. He hopes it's not stupid, he and Casey are always competitive, and even something like begrudgingly giving each other a Christmas gift is like an act of war.

Derek looks at the clock. 11:45pm. The kids are already asleep in bed and Nora and his dad were most likely done setting up. He knows he should be heading down right about now, but he's determined not to be the one left waiting. Another five minutes pass and Derek hears Casey's door creak open. He knows it's illogical, but Derek feels a small victory that she cracked first. Two more minutes go by and Derek stands up, tightly clutching Casey's gift in his hand. Cautiously, he opens his door and creeps down the stairs. Christmas music plays softly over the radio and Casey sits on the couch, facing away from the stairway. They do this every year, but Derek can tell that she's anxious, her back is rigid and she's nervously twirling a strand of hair around her finger.

"Hey, Case," he says quietly, causing her to stand and face him.

"Hey," Casey shifts her weight nervously from one foot to the other, holding a much nicer looking package in her hands. She makes no move to meet him where he's at and he sighs; somehow, he always loses when it comes to Casey.

Derek moves to the middle of the room, stopping in front of her.

"Here," he says gruffly, motioning for her to take her gift.

She primly sets the gift she got for him on the couch and hesitantly moves to take the gift from his hand, freezing when her hand brushes against his.

Snapping out of it, Casey carefully scrapes the tape off of the wrapping paper and smiles at Derek when she sees the journal.

"There's also a picture of you and Marti in there, too," Derek admits, awkwardly scratching the back of his head.

Casey gingerly opens the journal and grins when she sees the photo. She picks it up to take a closer look and her eyes widen as she notices words written in a familiar scrawl on the inside of the cover.

"_The world is a better place with you in it."_

Casey looks up at Derek with tears in her eyes and he looks away.

"Shit, Case, don't cry," Derek mutters, "I didn't mean to upset – "

All of the sudden Casey flings her arms around him, her body pressed close to his as she hugs him. He's frozen, unmoving, even as Casey burrows her face into the crook of his neck. Derek feels her tears run down his shirt and hesitantly brings his arms up, wrapping one around her waist and the other hand pressing against her hair gently. He takes a deep breath, Casey smells like springtime, even in the dead of winter, and he's hazily aware of her small body that's resting flush with his.

_Once bitten and twice shy_

_I keep my distance_

_But you still catch my eye_

The radio continues to play in the background as the pair hold their same position for a moment longer. Letting out a shuddering breath, Casey removes her arms from Derek and wipes the tears from her eyes.

_Merry Christmas_

_I wrapped it up and sent it_

_With a note saying I love you, I meant it_

"Sorry," she mumbles.

"It's okay," Derek says uncomfortably.

It was a small Christmas miracle that he even hugged her in the first place, he isn't about to start talking about feelings.

Casey picks up the gift she got for him and hands it over.

"I should've had you open yours first, it's pretty lame in comparison to yours," Casey apologizes.

"Well, it's hard to be as perfect as me," Derek teases.

Casey cracks a grin, "that it is." She picks up the journal and heads to the stairs. "Merry Christmas, Der."

He waits until she's all the way up the stairs before he unwraps her gift. Opening the box that was enclosed in the shiny green wrapping paper, he's surprised to find a note and a hockey puck.

"_D,_

_Managed to snag the winning puck from your game, don't ask me how._

_\- C"_

Derek grins. It's the puck he scored his first college winning goal with, how could she think his gift to her was better?

_Last Christmas, I gave you my heart_

_But the very next day, you gave it away_

Derek turns the radio off and heads up to his room.

"Merry Christmas, Case," he whispers as he passes her door, shutting his softly behind him.


	15. Chapter 15

The move into the new apartment goes as expected. They argue over who gets the _slightly_ bigger room (Casey wins). They argue over whether or not Derek's chair is allowed in the living room (Derek definitely wins). They argue over having a housewarming party, "_Der-ek, Mom and George need the security deposit back_," (Casey compromises).

The doorbell rings at eight and Casey opens the door to a grinning Leah and Mark, followed closely behind Davis and Velazquez. She tries to frown disapprovingly at Davis when she sees the case of beer in his hand but can't bring herself to do it as he wraps her in a big hug, declaring how much he's missed the team's lucky charm. Laughing, she slaps him good naturedly on the chest and asks why he didn't bring pizza instead.

"Wright said he would bring it," Velazquez pipes up.

"Awesome," Derek cracks open a beer, "is Lance going to make it?"

"Nah, he's not coming back until tomorrow," Mark shrugs.

Leah drags Casey into the kitchen as the boys continue to catch up.

"So," she asks, eyes sparkling mischievously, "how was vacation with Derek?"

Casey groans, "Leah, do not start right now. It was just a lot of family time." Casey places a strong emphasis on the word 'family.'

The doorbell rings again and Casey rushes to the door, eager to leave the kitchen and Leah's scrutiny.

Casey greets Ethan warmly, forgoing a hug due to the stack of greasy pizza boxes in his arms, and sees a girl standing behind him. Casey gives Ethan a look and his eyes widen.

"Oh, shit. I have an announcement," Ethan's voice bellows out and he smiles as the group gives him their attention. "Everyone," he nudges the girl to stand next to him, "this is my girlfriend Maria. Maria, this is everyone."

"Ay! You actually _do_ have a girlfriend." Derek turns to Maria, "we definitely thought he was making you up."

Maria blushes and Casey hits Derek none to gently, "Der-_ek_! Shut up!" Casey faces Maria and smiles, "it's great to meet you. I'm Casey, Leah is the only other sane one here. I'll let Ethan introduce you to the rest of these losers later."

Maria smiles gratefully at Casey and the group piles into the kitchen to divvy up the pizza and grab beer.

"You didn't think I was going to let you get off that easy, did you?" Leah says quietly to Casey as they grab plates. "I need details!"

"Ooh, details? Sounds juicy, do tell!" Maria jokes.

"I like her," Leah grins, "we're definitely keeping you around. So basically, Casey and De-"

Casey kicks Leah in the shin, "not the time, jerk."

"Ow, I thought you don't condone violence," Leah mutters, rubbing her shin sorely.

Maria giggles and Casey sticks out her tongue.

The girls leave the kitchen to join the boys in the living room and Casey sighs upon realizing all the seats on the couch are taken. Leah has no problem sitting on Mark's lap and Ethan has gallantly given up his seat for Maria and is now sitting on the floor. Casey goes to take a seat next to him when she realizes that Derek is still in the kitchen and his chair is wide open.

She quickly sits down on the chair and grins, serves him right for putting the ugly thing in _her_ living room anyway.

"You lost, Spacecase?" Derek asks as he approaches his chair.

"Nope," she looks up at him with faux innocence, popping the 'p' in the word.

"Hmm," he says, "interesting."

Bypassing her, Derek goes over the stack of DVDs that Velazquez brought and starts to sift through them, grinning evilly at Casey before popping one into the DVD player.

Haunting music starts to play over the TV speakers and Casey's face drains of color. He knows how much she hates horror movies!

"Was the chair worth it, Princess?" Derek asks quietly, the conversation indiscernible to those on the couch.

Swallowing her fear, Casey looks up at Derek and grins, making a show of getting comfy.

"I'm so glad you brought it from London, it's really becoming my favorite chair," Casey juts out her chin defiantly.

Shrugging, Derek plops down onto the chair, nearly crushing Casey. She narrows her eyes at him and sighs when she realizes he's not going to budge. Scooting as far away from Derek as the chair allows, Casey swings her legs over Derek's and smirks as she feels him freeze. The smirk slowly dissipates, however, when she realizes that he isn't getting up. They both sigh as they realize the other is just as stubborn and turn their attention to the movie.

xxxx

"_One, Two, Freddy's Coming For You_

_Three, Four, Better Lock Your Door"_

Casey's fingers dig into Derek's arm as the movie progresses and, normally, he would laugh at her for being such a wuss but her close proximity is making that difficult. At the next jump scare, Casey yelps and hides her face in his shoulder, practically sitting in his lap. Mark looks over at the pair and gives Derek a thumbs-up. Derek uses the hand that's not on Casey's shoulder to flip him the bird. Mark silently laughs and turns back to the movie.

Casey tightens her grip on his arm again and he looks down. He's 99.9% sure that she isn't aware of how close she is to him; they were mortal enemies for fucks sake! Orange juice and toothpaste, sworn to hatred. She looks up to meet his gaze, blue eyes meeting brown. He leans closer and…

"Wow! What a great movie!" Davis exclaims. "I can't believe I've never seen it before."

Casey realizes at that moment exactly how/where she is sitting and jumps up, racing to the kitchen, Leah following close behind.

xxxx

"You two looked cozy," Leah says nonchalantly as she tosses her paper plate.

"You mean I looked terrified," Casey corrects, glaring at her friend. "Derek knows I hate horror movies, the jerk."

"So, you just admitted he did it to be closer to you," Leah counters.

"Leah, why are you so intent on torturing me?" Casey groans.

"I just want you to admit that you and Derek li-" Leah starts to say but Casey clamps her hand tightly over the redhead's mouth, only to remove it promptly when Leah licks her.

"Eww," Casey whines, "you're worse than Derek!"

"You two talking about how awesome I am?" Derek asks as he walks into the kitchen.

"In your dreams, Venturi," Casey scoffs.

"Casey, Casey, Casey," Derek shakes his head. "Don't you know that you're only in my nightmares?"

Casey laughs at this and Leah furrows her brow in confusion.

"Leah!" Mark calls from the living room. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah," Leah calls back, giving Casey and Derek one more glance of confusion, "I'm coming." She's really never going to understand those two.

xxxx

"Thanks for having us over," Maria says to Derek as Ethan grabs their coats.

"No problem," Derek smiles, "it was nice to meet you."

"You've trained him well McDonald," Ethan laughs, "where were these manners a few months ago?"

Casey snorts, "what manners? He's only being nice because Maria doesn't know him well enough yet."

"You've got me there," Derek grins.

"Well, thank you all the same," Maria says again. "You and Casey are a really cute couple by the way."

Ethan laughs but quickly covers it up with a cough when Maria glares at him.

Derek's face quickly contorts into a sneer, "ew, me and Casey? No way! I'd probably catch some rare case of keener disease or something."

Ethan frowns at him and pulls on Maria's arm.

"C'mon babe, we gotta go."

Giving Derek a reproachful look, Ethan and Maria take their leave.

Sighing in relief, Derek closes the door.

"Well, that was crazy. Right, Case?" Derek asks, turning around. "Casey?"

She's nowhere to be seen. Groaning, Derek looks at the state of the apartment and curses her for leaving him with the mess silently in his head.

xxxx

_It's chasing her through the halls of her childhood home. Her dad stands in one room: "You'll always be a failure, a disappointment." Her mother is in the next: "How could you do this to me?" Lizzie in another: "I can't believe you tried to leave me." Casey continues to run. It's getting closer. In the distance, she sees a figure. It's Derek. She feels a sliver of hope, maybe he'll be able to help her. The faster she runs, the further he seems to get. She starts to cry and her steps start to falter. "Stupid girl," it crows, "did you think he was the exception? He knows you'll never be enough, no matter how much you pretend. He'll never help." She trips and it bears down on her, extending its claws. She screams and – _

Casey jolts awake, scrambling into an upright position. Heart beating wildly, she looks around her with wide eyes before realizing that she's safe in her new room. Casey exhales in relief and throws the covers off of her sweat-drenched body. There's no way she's getting back to sleep now. She quietly makes her way into the kitchen and turns on the kettle, hoping tea will calm her down, cursing Derek under her breath for choosing a scary movie to watch.

Just before the teapot whistles, she takes it off of the burner and pours herself a cup of tea, then makes her way to the dining room table. As Casey goes to take a sip, the screen on her phone lights up, indicating a text notification.

Unknown: "_Did you think I forgot about you?"_

Casey frowns, is this some kind of sick joke? She thinks about waking Derek up but decides against it, choosing for the time being to ignore the message.

xxxx

A scream wakes Derek up out of a dead sleep and he blinks his eyes slowly before registering what he heard. Across the hall, he hears Casey's door open and he feels a brief pinch of guilt, knowing she probably woke up from a nightmare. He stays in bed for a few more minutes before sighing and getting up, he knows he won't be able to go to sleep for a while.

"Hey Spacey," he says sleepily as he walks through the dining room.

Casey nods tiredly in response and he continues on his path to the fridge. He grabs a slice of leftover pizza and sits down next to Casey at the table.

"You good?" he asks.

"Careful there, Der, you almost sound like you care," Casey says sarcastically.

"You must be out of your mind, McDonald. I'm just asking because it's four in the morning and you woke me up," he rebuttals. "I need to make sure you're fine so I can make sure my sleep will go uninterrupted when we go back to bed."

Casey rolls her eyes, "I'm fine, no thanks to you."

They sit in silence as Casey finishes her tea.

"All the same, thanks for getting up Derek," Casey says quietly before walking back to her room.

Derek grunts in response, mouth full of food.

A buzz vibrates the table and Derek looks over to see Casey's phone, she must have left it.

Curiosity getting the better of him, he reaches over and grabs it, tilting the phone to see a text from an unknown number. She should really password protect her phone. Clicking the phone open, Derek pulls the message up.

Unknown: _"Are you really going to ignore me? Again?"_

Unknown: _"Like that worked out so well for you next time."_

Unknown: _"We're going to talk soon, whether you like it or not, Casey."_

Derek frowns, something about these texts seem familiar, but he can't put his finger on it.


	16. Chapter 16

Derek wants to bring up the text to Casey, but she doesn't mention it and the last thing he wants to do is admit that he_ cares_. So instead, they settle into a regular routine. It's easier than he expected. They study together, never at home; Casey cooks dinner, he cleans up without prompting (shocking, he knows); and she continues to come to every practice and game. Casey's here at practice now, head bent over flashcards that he knows she's gone over enough times to have memorized by now.

"Hey, Spacecase," he goes up to her and tugs on her braid, "you know practice has been over for like, fifteen minutes, right?"

Casey blinks up at him, slowly coming back down to earth.

"Huh?" Casey looks at her watch. "Shoot, I have to go meet up with Leah and Eli!"

"Who's Eli?" He tries to ask casually, just because he's given up fighting the jealousy brewing in his gut doesn't mean Casey has to know about it.

"I dunno," Casey says distractedly, re-organizing her bag, "some friend of Leah's. She thinks we'll get along."

"Oh." It's a stupid response, but it's all Derek can think of right now.

Casey looks up at him. "You ok, Der?"

He clears his throat. "Yeah, yeah, just tired. Need a ride?"

"Aw, who said chivalry is dead?" Casey teases. "But no, it's ok, Leah is picking me up." Smiling, she stands on her tip-toes and kisses his cheek. "Thanks though!"

Casey rushes out and Derek stays glued to the same spot, hand on his cheek, until Davis calls his name.

xxxx

Derek isn't a worrier. In fact, most people describe him as care-free, laid back, happy-go-lucky. So why he's pacing the floors of their living room, he has no idea. Except he does. Because it's 12am and Casey isn't back and it's not that he's _worried,_ but would it kill her to text him?

12:30am hits and he's about to call the calvary when she stumbles in, attempting to be quiet and failing miserably.

"Where have you been?" Derek feels as surprised as Casey looks that he even asked.

Her glossy eyes look up at him and she runs her tongue over her lips before answering.

"We went to a bar; you would have hated it."

"How come?"  
"Karaoke," Casey giggles.

"You know me well," Derek nods.

"Why?" Casey tilts her head to the left.

"Why what, Spacey?"

"Why'd you want to know where I was?" Casey's face is too serious for Derek's liking.

"I just wanted to know what could possibly be more important than making me dinner," he jokes.

Casey grins. "You're ridiculous."

"Yeah, night, Case." Derek turns to leave but Casey walks over and wraps her arms around his torso.

"Can you watch a movie with me" Her slurred words are muffled, mouth pressed against his back. "Please?"

He removes her arms from his waist and faces her. His brain is screaming 'no' and he _knows_ it's a bad idea, but one look at her pouting face has Derek saying yes before he can even think.

Casey picks some chick flick and normally Derek would complain, but his brain is occupied with other things; like his step-sister's head laying on his lap. He absent-mindedly runs his fingers through her hair, trying to ignore the voice in his head singing, _'you're going to hell, you're going to hell.'_

The movie ends and Casey sits up, yawning heavily. Her shirt rides up, exposing her midriff as she stretches, and Derek's fingers twitch, fighting the urge to reach out and touch her. Fucking chick flicks, he definitely wouldn't be having these thoughts if they had watched an action movie, right?

Casey looks over at Derek and smiles softly, pushing his hair out of his face before standing up.

"Night, Derek."

He watches her walk away and a wave of foreboding washes over him. He is royally, without a shadow of a doubt, screwed.

xxxx

"Der-_ek_!" Casey whips around, furious, as Derek snatches her backpack. "Give it back!"

She reaches for it, but Derek holds it over his head, laughing as she struggles (and fails) to reach it.

"It's not funny, Der, I have to study! Give it back!" Casey resorts to whining, but Derek isn't having it.

"Not a chance, Princess," Derek shakes his head. "You've had everything memorized since last week, if you don't take a break, you're gonna burn out."

Casey stops trying to reach her bag and starts to pout.

"Sorry Spacey, that's not gonna work either."

Casey huffs and crosses her arms over her chest.

"So what do you suggest we do instead, Venturi?"

"So glad you asked, McDonald," Derek grins, swinging her backpack over his shoulder. "We're going to go get some lunch, I'm starving."

Casey sighs, "fine, but we're going to Common Ground, I need coffee."

"Atta girl," Derek pats her head.

"I'm not a dog," Casey scowls and swats his hand away.

She storms ahead of him, but he can tell by the way her shoulders are shaking that she's laughing too.

xxxx

"Can I have one small Americano and one large peppermint mocha with extra whipped cream please?" Casey places their order with the barista while Derek grabs a seat. She looks over at him and realizes that he said he was hungry, so she adds on a sandwich to the order as well.

Casey manages to carry the two drinks and sandwich over to Derek without a Klutzilla incident and he smiles gratefully when he realizes the food is for him.

"Thanks Case!" He goes to take a bite, then pauses. "You want some?"

"No thank you," Casey dismisses his offer with a wave of her hand.

"Casey," Derek says seriously, "I haven't seen you eat all day; we're splitting the damn sandwich."

He tears it in half and she begrudgingly accepts, taking a bite.

"Happy?" She rolls her eyes.

"Yup," he answers, practically inhaling his portion.

On the contrary, Casey takes her time eating, only pausing when her phone vibrates.

Unknown: "Are you still trying to deny it?"

There's an attachment included, and Casey clicks it open, bringing up a picture of her and Derek from earlier today. She's mid-jump, trying to get her bag back and his head is thrown back, a laugh clearly escaping his lips.

Casey feels her face drain of color and her hand trembles as she continues to stare at the message.

"You look like you saw a ghost," she hears Derek say. "Case?"

Before she can stop him, Derek grabs her phone, expression growing angry as he reads the message.

"Did you block that douchebag's number?" Derek asks, referring to Adam.

Casey nods.

"He might have gotten a new one, we'll go report this to the school after we're done here," Derek says resolutely."

"Derek," Casey protests, "I don't want to start anything unnecessarily!"

"Nothing bad is going to happen, Spacecase. All they're gonna do is keep an eye on him."

Casey opens her mouth to argue but Derek puts his hand up.

"It's not just to keep you safe, Casey. Think about the other girls he might be doing this to."

Casey hangs her head down in shame, she hadn't thought about it like that.

Derek reaches out and grabs her hand, intertwining their fingers.

"It's going to be ok, Case," Derek reassures her. "It's going to be ok."

xxxx

After the dean advises a very irate Derek that there is nothing she can do, Derek refuses to leave Casey's side, not that either of them are complaining. It's easier to coexist here at Queens, rather than back home. There's a lack of (family) weight on his shoulders, which is why Derek feels (relatively) guilt free as he runs his fingers unconsciously through her hair while she rests her head on his lap. They've started a new tradition, of sorts, that involves Wednesday nights and crappy movies. This week, Derek chose the movie (Scream) and he can tell Casey is relieved when her mom calls.

"Hey Mom," Casey presses pause on the remote and sits up. "News? No, Lizzie hasn't said anything."

Casey stands and starts to pace, and Derek gets up behind her.

"You're what?!" Casey shrieks. She looks like she's nearing hysterics and Derek crosses the room to put a comforting hand on the small of her back. "There's already five…I don't understand…"

Nora says something indiscernible to Derek and he watches as Casey's mask of stone slides into place. That can't be good.

"Of course I'm happy for you, Mom," Casey's clipped tone makes Derek cringe, he's not a huge fan of the Ice Queen. "Why don't you tell him yourself?"

She turns towards Derek and he frowns in confusion as he takes the phone and puts it up to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Derek! Your father and I are having a baby!"

"A baby?" Derek croaks. He removes his hand from Casey's back, and he knows it stings, but fuck he can't breathe.

"Yes! A little Venturi-McDonald!"

Derek always wanted to hear those two names together, ever since he was fifteen, but not like this.

"Are you happy?" Nora asks hopefully.

Derek wants to gag.

"Yeah, I'm happy."

Casey pushes past him and he wants to reach out because he goddamn _knows_ how she's feeling because he feels it too but…he can't. Her door slams shut with what feels like finality and if he wasn't feeling so heavy he probably would laugh at the irony.

"Derek?" Nora's voice brings him back to the present.

"Sorry, what?"

"I was saying that Casey seems upset, is she?"

Derek shrugs, then realizes that Nora can't see him.

"I dunno" _lies _"she has a big test coming up" _more lies_ "she's probably just stressed about that."

Nora accepts his answer and Derek wonders, not for the first time, how Nora can be so willfully blind when it comes to her eldest daughter.

xxxx

Leah tells Casey that if she isn't going to let her know what's going on, Casey could at least stop sulking. Casey takes her friend's advice and starts to fume instead.

Ever since her mom called, Derek's been ignoring her. Casey thought it was a mistake at first, when he didn't show up to their study spot last Thursday, he's forgotten before. But then he stopped coming home for dinner and the dishes kept piling up, so Casey stopped cooking all together. Any hope she had of things returning to normal was completely squashed when the following Wednesday rolled around and she was left sitting all alone on the couch watching "Uptown Girl" by herself. The real kicker, though, is the fact that Derek doesn't even walk her to class anymore and she's too embarrassed to mention it to the team and she's just so…alone…again. If anyone would have told her a year ago that she would miss her step-brother's company, she would have laughed. But now she's angry because it's better than being sad. How dare he just write her off? Like she's nothing. It's better to be angry, she decides, anything to distract from how badly it hurts.

xxxx

Casey groans as she reads the "Out of Service" sign staring at her mockingly from the elevator. Dance practice had been especially grueling and all she wants to do is lay on the couch and watch crappy TV. Sighing heavily, Casey readjusts her bag on her shoulder and slowly trudges up the three flights of stairs.

"Shit," Casey fumbles for her keys and drops them as she reaches her floor.

Snatching them up from the ground, patience thin, Casey successfully unlocks the door and immediately wishes that she hadn't.

"Ahem," Casey awkwardly clears her throat and the girl who was, until five seconds ago, glued to Derek's face jumps away and at least has the decency to look embarrassed.

"I'm so sorry, Derek didn't tell me he had a – " the girl looks at Casey inquisitively.

"Roommate," Casey replies flatly, refusing to look in Derek's direction.

The girl brightens considerably, most likely because Casey is just a _roommate_, and holds out her hand.

"Hi, I'm Tina!"

Casey looks tiredly at Tina and gestures to the items in her hands, not reciprocating Tina's well-intended introduction.

"Don't mind me, just came to drop things off." Casey doesn't bother introducing herself. She doesn't want anything to do with Derek's new…whatever.

Casey heads to her room, pretending not to hear Tina ask for her name, and softly shuts her door.

Casey: "Hey Eli, clubbing tonight?"

Eli: "Girl, you already know."

Casey: "See ya in ten."

x*x*x*x*x*x

A/N: I'm so very sorry I haven't updated in a while. School started back up again and I've been a little bit in over my head. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! If there was stuff you liked/didn't like any feedback is always appreciated 3


	17. Chapter 17

"Why does your roommate hate me?" Tina whines, tugging on Derek's shirt.

"She doesn't hate you, babe," Derek mutters, attention focused on the hockey re-run playing on the TV.

"Derek," Tina stands up and blocks Derek's view, arms on her hips. "Look at me."

Derek rubs his eyes tiredly, resigning himself to the fact that he definitely won't be watching the rest of the game.

"What's up?"

"Don't 'what's up' me!" Tina stomps her foot and glares. "I want to know why Casey hates me!"

"Babe, for the last time – "

"Don't you dare say she doesn't hate me, Derek Venturi! When I come over, she's never home; the rare times she is here she either leaves before I can so much as say hello or locks herself in her room; she hasn't even formally introduced herself to me for fucks sake!" Tina ticks of the reasons on her fingers then stares at Derek expectantly. "Well?"

"I haven't noticed," Derek replies casually, "she's always been a weird one."

"You're fucking unbelievable," Tina mutters, grabbing her coat.

"Tina, where are you going?" Derek calls as she walks away.

"Home. Call me when you pull your head out of your ass." She slams the door shut and Derek flops his head onto the back of the couch.

Their month-long relationship had been going just fine, Tina was relatively low-maintenance, the sex was decent, and he actually enjoyed her company for the most part. Then she got the idea into her head that Casey hated her and wouldn't let it go. It's not that Derek didn't notice his step-sister avoiding the apartment, stumbling in during the early hours of the morning – if she even came home at all – dark circles under her eyes and an ever-shrinking frame. Of course he noticed. Just like he noticed that they've only exchanged maybe five words the past month and that none of his teammates have heard from her either. Maybe she's talked to Leah, but Derek wouldn't know, the redhead avoids him every time they cross paths. So yes, Derek knows that Casey hates Tina, but how is he supposed to explain that to his girlfriend? How is he supposed to explain the five years of hatred for each other's current fling? How is he supposed to explain the history of fake support, scathing comments, and inevitable sabotage followed by some sort of peace offering? How is he supposed to explain that they're just…_Derek and Casey_…without explaining how badly he misses the fucked-up mess that they always get themselves into? He can't. And he can only avoid the Casey Guilt if Tina stops bringing it up. So Derek does what he normally does, he avoids the situation and turns his attention back to the TV.

xxxx

After a week of ignoring him, and most likely realizing that he won't cave, Tina gives Derek a call. She says something along the lines of "it's not your responsibility to know how Casey feels" and "I'm sorry for blowing it out of proportion," but Derek isn't really paying attention. Because, of course, the day Tina decides to end her silent treatment is the day Casey finally shows back up. She's currently in the kitchen, reaching into the fridge and retrieving a water bottle. Derek can't look away, if he blinks, he might miss her.

"Anyway, I'll be over soon!" Tina exclaims, bringing Derek back to attention.

"Wait, now's not a good – " Tina hangs up. "Time." Derek mumbles.

Pocketing his phone, Derek goes into the kitchen and leans on the counter across from Casey. She ignores him and he takes the opportunity to actually look at her. Baggy clothes hang off her body loosely, her hair is pulled up into a disheveled bun…high school Casey would have never let herself get this bad.

"You look like shit." It's not what Derek wants to say, but it comes out anyway.

Casey rolls her eyes. He watches as she twists the cap back onto her water bottle and his eyes follow her as she starts to walk away.

"So you're just gonna keep running?" He didn't mean to say that either, but it's out now and he can only hope she'll take the bait. She continues to walk. "I'll take that as a yes?" Derek knows he's provoking her and can't help but grin as he watches her turn around.

"How dare you?" Her dull eyes ignite with that spark of indignation reserved solely for _him. _"How dare you accuse _me_ of running." She gets closer and the air hums with the crackling electricity of Casey McDonald letting her anger loose. "You," she stops in front of Derek, voice quiet and venomous, "are the one who ran away." She jabs his chest. "You are the one who left me." She hits his chest this time. "You abandoned me, you avoided me without so much as an explanation," she hits his chest again, and again, "then shoved your new whatever-she-is in my face to make yourself feel better. You're a fucking coward, Derek Venturi, and I – "

Derek reaches out and pulls her towards him, ending her rant. She looks up at him and his hands are on her hips and her hands are tugging his jacket forward and he's leaning down and…

Someone knocks on the door and he moves away from her like she's on fire. Casey looks at him with disappointment and shakes her head.

"I'm done, Derek."

"Casey, don't…" there's another knock on the door.

"You better get that."

Derek groans. College wasn't supposed to be like this. It was supposed to _easier_ here, not harder. There's another knock on the door and he storms over to swing it open.

"What?!" He snaps.

Tina looks up at him, eyes wide with shock.

"I, um, I wanted to see you," she stutters.

"If you had listened to me for once you would have realized that it's not a good time," Derek spits out.

Tina looks down, noticing a new pair of shoes in the entry way.

"It's Casey, isn't it?" She asks softly.

"What?"

"This," Tina gestures between Derek and herself, "can't work, can it? Not with Casey around."

"Tina," Derek runs his hand through his hair, "I'm sorry I snapped at you, I'm just a little stressed out right now. Casey and I, there's no, I mean I never…"

"Don't worry," Tina smiles sadly up at Derek, "I don't think anything happened. There's just no room for me here. Whatever the two of you have, there's no space for anyone else."

Derek stares at Tina, speechless, for once.

"We had a fun run, Derek," Tina pats his arm, "I'll see you around."

Derek heads back inside and promptly finds himself in front of Casey's door. He takes a deep breath. He's not fifteen anymore, he's not in London, and Casey has _never_ been family to him. She's always been so much more.

This is his last chance, he knows it. So before he has a chance to overthink it, he twists the door handle and barges into her room.

"Der-ek!" Casey shrieks, throwing a pillow at him with frightening accuracy, "get out!"

"Nope." He closes the door behind him and leans back against it.

"I'm sorry."

"If you were sorry, you'd get out of my room," Casey scowls at him.

"Tina's gone. For good."

"And I care because?"

Derek crosses the room to sit next to Casey on her bed and she backs away instinctively.

"Dammit, Princess, don't be difficult," Derek says exasperatedly.

Casey stares at him in stubborn silence and he sighs heavily.

"Fuck! You know I'm not good at this shit, Case." Derek looks down at the comforter then looks back up "It's always been you, Casey. I'm done pretending. It's fine if you don't," he swallows hard, "want anything to do with me."

Casey stays silent.

"I'll be around if you change your mind," Derek smiles awkwardly at Casey and she looks back at him with a blank expression.

"Right then," Derek clears his throat, "I'm going to leave now."

xxxx

Derek finally caves into how utterly exhausted he is and heads to his room. No more than ten minutes after he lays down in bed, he hears his door creak open, followed by his covers being lifted and the bed dipping down slightly next to him.

"You're a fucking dick, you know that?" Casey mumbles into his back as she drapes her arm over his torso.

Derek grasps her hand gently.

"Yeah, I know."


End file.
